


The Young Scavenger

by JakkuScavenger



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kid Fic, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-10 12:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6985342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JakkuScavenger/pseuds/JakkuScavenger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avery is a 13 year old girl living alone on Jakku. Takes place 3 years after The Force Awakens. Poe and Rey have been a couple for a while and return to Jakku for Rey's belongings, however, they find more than they expected when they return to Rey's old home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

(Aesthetic by Junjunyil)

Avery had been living on her own for about three years. The night she lost her parents however, felt like yesterday.

She had heard sirens going off in the village during the middle of the night. Her father had scooped her up and placed her in her mother’s arms before grabbing his blaster.

No one knew what was going on but Avery knew something terrible was coming. Her father placed a kiss on her forehead, “you stay with your mother, you hear me?” he said as he ran out the door.

All she could hear were blasters going off like lightening through the night. Her mother smelled smoke and decided it was time to leave the hut. With Avery in her arms, she ran outside to the horror that awaited, stormtroopers had infiltrated the village and were rounding up people in the village center.

An officer spotted Avery and her mother and quickly grabbed her mother’s shoulder to lead them to the center. Avery spotted her father with a defeated look in his eye as he saw his wife and daughter at the mercy of the First Order. It was then that Avery began to wail against her mother’s chest. Her mom wrapped her arms tightly around her and hushed soothing words in her ear. Avery couldn’t focus on much more than her terror until she heard a menacing voice speaking behind her.

Avery looked over her mother’s shoulder to see a dark cloaked figure speaking with a man kneeling on the ground. She couldn’t make out what they were saying but suddenly the man was brought to his feet and whisked away on a ship. Before Avery could figure out what had transpired, she heard a female voice shout “Fire!”

Bodies began falling around her. Her mother’s grip tightened on her and soon Avery felt them both fall to the ground. Avery ended up pinned beneath her dying mother and another woman already gone. “Mommy!” She cried out as she tried to get up and help her mother. The shooting stopped and Avery realized that no one knew she was still alive.

She grabbed her mother’s hand and wept softly, praying they would either leave her be or end her suffering quick. She heard ships taking off and realized that she had been spared. The sun began to rise and Avery realized she did not know how long she had been lying in the sand underneath dead bodies she once knew as neighbors or family. Avery scrambled out of the mess and knelt by her mother’s side. She wasn’t sure when she had passed but Avery couldn’t face leaving her.

_Please wake up mommy, please don’t leave me alone _. Quickly, her tear laced eyes shot around in search of her father. She spotted his signature jacket and ran to his side. Avery wasn’t sure why she had a glimmer of hope that he would still be alive, but her heart sank when she realized the opposite was true.  
__

Her father had been her best friend, and now she had lost not only her parents but her only friends. Avery had never felt so alone in her entire life. In the matter of a couple hours, she had gone from being completely surrounded by a thriving community, to being completely alone. Avery picked herself up and walked over to her family’s hut.

Once inside, Avery laid on the ground and let the hard wracking sobs escape from her small body. After a few minutes, she wiped the tears from her eyes and began thinking of what to do next.

Avery had only been outside of the village a few times with her father. Mostly it was so she could be taught the ways of scavenging, or so that’s what her dad used to say. Secretly, Avery always thought he just wanted to spend some quality time with her. Avery used to love going scavenging with her father, and quickly realized she would never feel that joy again.

Now, she would have to scavenge alone, in order to keep herself alive. Avery decided she would head towards Niima outpost as she used to go there often with her dad to trade in parts for portions.

Avery gathered what little belongings she had left and began her trek across the desert towards the outpost. She had only been walking for a couple hours when she noticed something shining out of the corner of her eye. At first she thought it was a hallucination from the heat but upon closer view, decided it was real.

Cautiously, Avery began to walk towards the metal beast wondering what contents it would hold or if anyone was inside. The beast was splayed out in the sand and seemed to have four metal legs. The outside doorway was draped in tarps alarming the girl that there may be people inside, as it did not look natural to the structure.

_Please be friendly, please be friendly _. Avery poked her head inside the doorway to see if anyone was home. She did not know which she preferred, occupancy or vacancy. She had heard stories about what happened to young female scavengers when they dared to walk alone in the desert. Before, she had her father to protect her, but now at the age of ten, she only had herself as a defense.  
__

It appeared as though no one was home. She decided to step inside to see what she could find. Maybe there was something she could scavenge for portions lying around, or portions themselves.

She knew this was doubtful as no one would be foolish enough to leave water or portions out in the open while they were gone. The inside was cramped but cozy; someone had definitely made this their home. Avery was taken aback by a wall with tiny scratch marks covering its every edge. There must have been thousands of markings, she just couldn’t figure out what they meant.

_Maybe they kept track of time _? On the opposite wall there was a homemade shelf of sorts with some scraps of paper, spare parts, and a doll. Avery grabbed the doll and hugged it to her chest as though it was instinctual. It instantly brought her comfort that had been lost to her the night before.  
__

At the far end near the door, there was a small kitchen area with a pan on the stove. Avery began looking through the drawers underneath and couldn’t believe it when she found a quarter portion lying in the bottom drawer. Avery began to cry at her luck, it felt as though a guardian angel had left her these things as restitution for what happened. Avery had seen her mother cook portions many times so she knew what to do with the bread and vegemeat.

Once it had finished cooking, Avery began to feel guilty. She didn’t know who lived here or what their situation was. She had barged in here and stolen the only food this person had. Avery began to think about the consequences that were sure to come once the inhabitant came back.

Quickly, Avery grabbed her bag and food and raced out of the metal beast. She looked around quickly and ran up a steep hill. Once at the top, she discovered fire and smoke in the distance where she knew Niima outpost to be.

Avery realized something terrible must have happened there as well, probably something to do with the First Order. Avery shuddered at the thought of them and sat down on the sand. She had no intention of going to the outpost now and discovering another wave of stormtroopers tearing through it.

She decided to wait and see if whoever lived here returned and then judge whether she could ask to stay or would have to run for her life. Darkness fell quickly and once Avery decided the dweller would not be returning home tonight, she decided to set up shop.

She would only stay one night and then keep moving first thing in the morning. The First Order would have left by then and she could try to find work in the outpost or a place to stay. Surely a lonely, widow, scavenger would have enough sympathy left in them to take in a ten year old orphan, or so she hoped.

She settled into the makeshift bed in the corner and held the doll close. It made her feel better just by having it in her hands. However the quiet stillness around her reminded her that she was once again, alone. There was no one there to tuck her in, tell her a bedtime story, or kiss her goodnight. She began to cry softly and at some point, fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non Graphic depiction of Rape/Non Con in this chapter towards the end

One night had somehow turned into three years. Avery had made her way to Niima outpost that next day and realized that no one wanted the responsibility of a child; everyone was in it for themselves. She decided she was truly on her own now and went back to the metal beast.  


Avery figured she might as well wait for the inhabitor to return and try and reason with them to stay, maybe offer to scavenge for them in return for a place to sleep. Perhaps luck had been on her side because no one ever showed up.  


Part of Avery was disappointed that whoever lived here never came back. Something about the inside of the “house” made her feel like she and the dweller would have gotten on well. Someone who had a doll on a shelf and a rebel’s pilot helmet couldn’t have been that bad of a person, right?  


Avery was now 13 and had gotten used to the solidarity. Every morning she got up and began her day scavenging through the graveyard of giants in the Goazon badlands. She tried to keep to herself but some of the other scavengers had other ideas.  


There was a particular group that had taken a liking to messing with her. No one scavenged in groups except for these four men. From the moment she saw them three years ago, she had a bad feeling around them. They were older by about thirty years, if she had to guess, around the age of her father.  


They liked messing with the younger scavengers and it always just creeped her out. She tried to keep her distance as much as possible but they always seemed to somehow find her. She just hoped and prayed that they never found out where she lived.  


Her father had showed her some simple fight moves when she was younger, but Avery was never much of a fighter. Plus she was so small that she really didn’t stand a chance. She had thought about crafting a weapon like a staff or baton but she quickly realized she wouldn’t know how to use it effectively.  


So she just kept a small blade with her that had been her father’s. She hadn’t had to use it yet but she figured with this group of scavengers, she would have to at some point. Avery shivered at the thought of that day coming and hoped it never would.  


She packed up the parts she had scavenged from the super star destroyers and quickly made her way out. She noticed out of the corner of her eye one of the men eyeing her as she walked out. _Shit _.  
__

Avery swiftly turned and picked up the pace as she ran towards her speeder that had been left by whoever had lived in the metal beast. She hopped on and raced out of there as quick as she could. She liked keeping to herself and it made her nervous when people noticed her.  


Soon Avery arrived at Niima outpost to trade in her parts for portions. Today she only got a half a portion, but it was more than she got yesterday. The sun began to set as she raced across the desert towards her home.  


Once there, she cooked her meal and ate outside. As much as she was grateful for a place to live, it became claustrophobic after a while. The sun had fully set and after she ate, she began closing the tarps that hung over the opening. She wished she could secure her house more than just covering the hole in the wall but there wasn’t much she could do.  


As part of her nightly routine, she grabbed the doll off of its place on the shelf and hugged it tightly to her chest as she settled onto the makeshift bed made of blankets and rags. She talked to her parents as she did every night and wished they were here with her to tuck her in and hold her until she fell asleep.  


Just as her eyes began to close, she heard a rustling noise just outside her door. Instinctually, she grabbed her knife and began her descent towards the opening. As she got to the entrance, horror set upon her once she realized that the group of scavengers were just outside, _They found me _.  
__

Avery tried to figure out a way she could sneak by them and take refuge somewhere until they left. She hoped if she snuck through the back she would go unnoticed. Just as she turned around to grab her bag and flee, a large cold hand wrapped around her mouth to cover her desperate scream.  


“Hey! I found her, she was just about to sneak away from us, the little tramp.” The three other men entered her home and looked her over. “You weren’t trying to run away from us now where you?” asked the largest of the men.  


Avery hadn’t felt so much terror since the night her parents were killed in front of her. The man with his hand around her mouth finally let go, only to dig into her pockets and disarm her of the knife she was carrying.  


“Wouldn’t want this to get in the way now would we?” The other men began to laugh as they made themselves comfortable in her home. “What do you want?” Avery begged.  


The leader walked towards her and looked her dead in the eye, “You know what we want sweetheart.” Before Avery realized what was happening, she was pinned down with her arms and legs being held by the other two men.  


The others began ripping her clothes off eagerly. _This can’t be happening _. Screams rippled through her and she was sure that people all the way in Niima could hear her cries.  
__

_No one will come for me _.__

She felt so much pain she couldn’t focus on the grunting and panting in her ear. "We got ourselves a virgin here gents!" The others laughed while she closed her eyes and prayed for them to get done and leave her be. Once they had all taken their turn, they got up and left as abruptly as they came.  


Avery laid on the floor bruised and bloodied while clutching the doll to her chest. She couldn’t move without her body screaming. Sobs wracked through her and she wished more than anything in that moment that someone would show up and take her away from this horrible place.  


She wanted her mom to come and hold her and tell her everything would be alright, and for her dad to kill the men who had caused her so much pain. But, she was alone.  
She had no one to hold her and murmur comforting words in her ear while they rocked her to sleep. Instead, she held the doll tighter and tried to find escape in sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Rey will be introduced in the next chapter, thanks for reading! Comment any suggestions below.


	3. Chapter 3

Her night had been filled with nightmares that woke her just about every hour. Avery decided that since the sun would be rising soon, she might as well just get up. She hadn’t realized how difficult of a task this would prove to be.  


She hadn’t looked herself over last night as she didn’t want to relive the horror she had just been through. Once she looked down over her body, she felt the tears prickling at her eyes, begging for escape.  


Avery had grabbed a blanket to throw over herself as her clothes she always wore had been torn to pieces, but now that she had tossed the blanket off of herself, she realized the damage they had done. Bruises littered her chest, ribcage, stomach, arms, and thighs.  


Her wrists had hand and finger prints on them from where she was pinned down. Her thighs were streaked with dried blood that she desperately wanted to wash off. As she stood up, true pain began to set in as she tried to make it over to her wash basin.  


There was a small amount of water that she recycled when she bathed once a week but Avery didn’t care that she had just washed two days ago. She would use up every drop of water left on Jakku if it meant getting _them _off of her. She scrubbed hard with her rag as she watched the water slowly turn reddish brown as the blood washed off of her.  
__

No matter how hard she scrubbed, she still felt like they were on top of her. After a while, she got up out of the basin and grabbed a blanket to dry herself off with. _What am I going to wear, they tore my clothes _? She decided she would have to cut up her blankets and use what was left of her clothing to make something presentable.  
__

Her body still ached and she realized as she was crafting her new outfit that she didn’t want to go out and scavenge today. Avery didn’t want to risk seeing those men after last night. Soon she realized she never wanted to see them again, but she probably would. She wondered if they would keep harassing her or if they would come back to her home.  


Anxiety began to rise up in her and she felt herself trembling. _They probably will come back, what’s stopping them _? She got ahold of herself and decided that there was no use in worrying about it now because she couldn’t stop whatever was going to happen to her. She lived day by day just to survive.  
__

No one was coming for her to take her away from this awful planet. Avery was grateful that she had saved up a few portions in case she found herself injured and unable to scavenge, she figured this was pretty much the same thing and wouldn’t feel guilty about going through her stash. She cooked her breakfast just as the sun rose completely.  


_Is this truly all there is for me? Scavenging for my next meal, being a slave to a group of men, living out the rest of my days alone _? That wasn’t a life she wanted to live, she had already lost so much and couldn’t think of how it could get any worse.  
__

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard talking outside her doorway. _No, please don’t let it be them, I can’t take anymore _. She heard someone walking around just outside.__

_Shit, where’s my knife? Did they take it with them _?__  


Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it sitting on her bed. Avery leapt toward it just as she heard someone walk through the door. She spun around with the knife drawn out in front of her ready to fight off the men once again.  


She looked up to see a man with dark curly hair and brown eyes staring at her. _Is he here to hurt me like they did? What, did they tell every scavenger on Jakku that I was easy _? The man stared at Avery in shock, as if he wasn’t expecting to see anyone inside the AT-AT.  
__

He noticed the tiny girl in front of him was trembling and shaking as she held the knife out in front of her.  


“Woah, hey easy, I’m not gonna hurt you.” _Ya right _.  
__

He saw that she wore scraps for clothes as though she had made them herself, and bruises littered her arms and face.  


“My name’s Poe, what’s your name sweetheart?” _Sweetheart, dad used to call me that _.  
__

He began to walk towards her in an attempt to disarm her, but as he drew near, the girl backed herself into the corner and trembled even more. _Please just go away _. Poe realized he was getting nowhere with her and was only scaring her further.  
__

“Hey Rey! Can you come in here?” _Not another, how many more men does he have with him, and what are they going to do to me once they realize I’m by myself _?  
__

Just then, a young woman walked inside and stood next to Poe. She was wearing a loose, tan, sleeveless shirt with cutoff black leggings and wraps along her arms. Her brown hair was half pulled back into a bun while the rest hung down on her shoulders.  


Rey’s eyes widened as she looked over to see a young teenage girl shaking at the sight of them. She was huddled in the corner next to the bed Rey had slept on for most of her life. She held a knife in one hand but noticed in the other, held the doll Rey had made when she was a little girl.  


Rey’s heart broke instantly and all she wanted to do was scoop the girl up into her arms and give her a hug, but she knew she shouldn’t attempt such an act. 

Avery felt a strange sense of relief when she saw the woman he called, Rey, step into her home. Surely she would be somewhat safe as long as Rey was around, right? _Poe won’t try anything with her standing there _, she hoped.  
__

Rey began to look around at her old home in wonder, everything looked the same. The only difference she saw was that hundreds more tick marks had been etched into her wall, this girl must have been here for years. Rey bent down to Avery's level.  


“I see you found my doll, I made it when I was little, it always brought me comfort at night.” Rey said quietly towards the girl. _Her doll _?  
__

Avery hadn’t remembered even picking it up, but at the mention of it, hugged it closer to her chest. She felt a little silly being thirteen and still needing a doll to sleep and feel at peace, but in this moment she didn’t care.  


“I lived here most of my life, about three years ago I left Jakku with the help of a friend, I’m glad my home was able to be used by someone who needed it.” Rey said sweetly.  


The wheels began to turn in Avery’s head as she took in what Rey had said. Rey had lived here and must have left around the time Avery showed up that night. She marked the wall with each passing day, found the pilot’s helmet, and made the doll Avery slept with every night. A small smile began to creep upon Avery’s face as she put together the information. Then she remembered that Poe was still here with them, and Avery began to get nervous again.  


“Please tell us your name honey.” Rey asked.  


“Avery.” She said quietly, not even sure if they heard her. She looked up and saw them both smiling.  


“That’s a lovely name.” Poe said softly.  


“Well Avery, my boyfriend and I came back here to gather up some of my old things and take them back to our base, but it looks like someone is making use of them.” Avery looked at the doll in her hand and slowly held it out towards Rey.  


“You can have it back” Avery said sadly. _Hopefully they will just take their stuff and leave _.  
__

Rey looked at Poe, then back at Avery and asked, “Are you hungry, we have some food that tastes only slightly better than your portions?”  


Avery gave a confused look but nodded her head quickly. She put the doll on the ground next to her, realizing happily Rey wasn’t going to take it away from her. Poe and Rey walked out the door together leaving Avery sitting on her makeshift bed still too nervous to move. She wanted to trust Rey but wasn’t sure how she could, especially since Poe was with her.  


Rey and Poe made their way to the Falcon which was parked over the sandy dune. “She seems so afraid of us Poe.”  


“I know, did you see all the bruises she had? They looked fresh too, she might need medical service.”  


“We have to figure out a way to get her to come with us back to D’Qar, we can’t leave her here…I can’t leave her here.” Rey sighed.  


“We’ll figure it out. She seems more comfortable around you, maybe later you could try talking to her more, figure out her deal. We should probably stay the night and grab some supplies at the outpost before heading back out.”  


That was the thing Rey loved most about Poe, he always had a game plan and put her at ease during the most stressful of times. She knew in her heart that Poe wouldn’t let either of them leave Jakku without Avery in tow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating on whether or not to break this into two chapters, but decided to just upload it as one. Happy Memorial Day!

Rey and Poe made their way back to the AT-AT with food for the three of them. When they stepped back inside, they found Avery in the same spot she had been when they left.  


“Avery, would you feel more comfortable if Poe and I ate on our ship instead of here with you?”  


Avery just stared at them nervously and shrugged her shoulders. Rey decided she was going to make the first move and went over to sit next to Avery on her bed. Avery immediately tensed up and stared straight ahead.  


Rey handed her a bag with some sort of freeze dried food in it and a canteen of water. Avery took it gratefully but didn’t say a word. _Why are they being so nice to me _? Poe decided to sit across from them a few feet away as to not make Avery any more nervous. Avery got up a little liquid courage to talk to Rey while they ate.  
__

“Where do you guys come from?”  


“Poe and I are Resistance fighters, pilots specifically, fighting against the First Order. We live on the rebel base in D’Qar. But as you know I used to live here, for many years. I was left behind by a family I’ll never know, but was rescued by my friend Finn. At the time it didn’t feel like a rescue, but looking back, he saved me from living out the rest of my days here.”  


Avery thought about how alike she and Rey were; neither had parents and were left alone to fend for themselves on a desert planet, wishing that someone would take them away. _Maybe Rey will take me away _. Avery shook the thought from her head, she wasn’t even sure she trusted Rey yet, and she certainly didn’t trust Poe.  
__

They finished eating the small amount of food they had as the sun began to set. Poe hadn’t said much during dinner but she kept noticing him eyeing the bruises on her arms and wrists. It made her uncomfortable for someone, let alone a man, to be staring at her that intensely. He had a look of pity on his face when he met her eyes as she caught him gazing once again. Rey and Poe gave each other a look and Poe moved to stand up.  


“Rey and I were planning on spending the night on Jakku and then leaving for our base after we gather some supplies at Niima outpost tomorrow, you are more than welcome to come with us if you choose.”  


Poe didn’t want to make it seem like she didn’t have a choice in the matter and wanted _her _to come to the decision to leave with them. However, he wasn’t going to leave without her even if he and Rey had to drag her onto the Falcon.  
__

Every time he looked at Avery, he saw a young Rey scared and alone. It broke his heart to see the young girl so terrified of him and had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with the bruises that covered her body.  


“I’m gonna head back to the Falcon for the night, I’ll see you in the morning Avery.”  


Avery couldn’t believe that Poe had actually offered to take her away with them. She didn’t know if she trusted his offer but a small flutter in her stomach gave her joy for the first time in a long time. Even if Rey and Poe weren’t who they seemed to be, going with them had to be better than whatever fate was left for her here.  


Rey turned to her, “you don’t have to make a decision now, but we just wanted you to know that we want you to come with us. I know what kind of life you are living here because I lived it too. I thought there was no hope for me ever getting off of Jakku, but once I did, I found out how much better life can be. I met the love of my life because I took the risk of trusting people, and it paid off.”  


Avery nodded her head solemnly and knew Rey was right. The only problem was that she didn’t know how to trust people, no one had ever proven themselves worthy of her trust. When she looked back up at Rey, she caught her staring at her bruises.  


“What happened to your arms?” Rey asked softly as she took one of Avery’s arms in her hands and began inspecting the bruises. Rey felt Avery tense under her touch and watched as her cheeks began to turn red.  


“Nothing.” Avery replied quietly as her heart began to beat out of her chest and felt her cheeks turning a dark shade of crimson. _If Rey finds out what happened she won’t want to take me with them anymore. Who would want to be around someone as damaged and broken as me _?  
__

“I just got a little banged up scavenging yesterday, you know how that goes.” She offered quickly.  


Rey noticed how uncomfortable Avery was at both her touch and her question, and Rey didn’t buy for a second that she was telling the truth.  


“Okay.” Rey wasn’t going to push the issue further tonight, it had been a long day for everyone. Rey noticed Avery’s eyes begin to get heavy and decided it was time to say goodnight.  


“Well I’ll leave you be for tonight and come and get you in the morning when we are ready to head to the outpost.”  


Panic started to rise within Avery as she realized Rey was leaving. _What if the men come back tonight _?__

It was the first night after the _incident _and Avery was terrified of spending the night alone.__  


“Wait!” Avery shouted. Rey turned around to see the young girl hugging her knees and tears beginning to well up in her eyes.  


“Can you stay here tonight?” Avery asked gently. Rey gave a smile and nodded her head.  


“I’ll grab some blankets from the Falcon and sleep on the floor.”  


Relief washed over Avery as she realized that for the first time in three years, she wouldn’t be alone tonight. Avery watched Rey walk out and settled into her bed of blankets and a single pillow. She reached over and grabbed the doll she had left there earlier and hugged it to her chest as she did every night.  


Rey walked back in with the comfiest looking blankets Avery had ever seen. She began to lay them out on the floor next to her and made a bed. Rey took one look at the bloody blanket Avery had draped over her and immediately felt guilty.  


“Why don’t you sleep here tonight, you’ll be more comfortable.” Rey pointed to her bed made of blankets.  


Avery shyly replied, “Really?”  


“Of course, I’ve slept on that bed many years, one more night won’t kill me.”  


Avery scrambled over to the bed and was shocked to feel how soft and comfortable the blankets were. It was like lying on a pillow. No one had ever been that kind to her and Avery felt the tears prickle behind her eyes again.  


_Don’t cry in front of Rey, she’ll think you’re a baby _  
__

Avery nestled down onto her pillow with the doll in her hands. Not only was Avery grateful to not be alone, but she also felt safe. She knew that feeling wouldn’t last so she soaked in every ounce of it that she could.  


“Goodnight Rey”  


“Goodnight Avery”  


_______________________________________________________________________________ 

Avery woke up in the morning just as the sun was rising. She had slept better last night than she had in a long time. She only remembers having one nightmare and hopes she didn’t wake Rey up with it. Rey began to stir awake next to her and greeted Avery with a smile.  


“Morning”  


“Morning, how’d you sleep last night?” Rey had woken up at some point in the night to Avery whimpering in her sleep. Rey figured she was having a nightmare but didn’t want to wake her and only scare her further.  


“Fine, thank you for letting me sleep on your blankets, it was really nice.”  


“Of course honey, I’m gonna go and see if Poe’s awake. We should head over to Niima before the sun gets too high.”  


The three began their trek to the outpost once everyone got up and ready to go. It wasn’t far from Avery’s house and the three of them couldn’t fit on the speeder, so they decided to walk. Once there, Poe and Rey began asking around about fuel and supplies. Poe told the scavengers he had food and clothing from the Resistance base to trade with anyone who was willing.  


Avery was fascinated watching Poe negotiate, which was something she never did. Avery rarely talked or traded with the other scavengers, mainly just Unkar Plutt. She hung back around Rey, cautiously looking around. Hoping and praying that _they _weren’t here.  
__

“Everything okay?”  


Avery looked up to see Rey standing in front of her with a worried look on her face.  


“Yeah, everything’s fine” Avery lied.  


They made their way to a long table with a man standing behind it selling drums of oil and fuel. Poe began bargaining when Avery got the feeling that she was being watched. She looked over her shoulder and noticed the group of scavengers making their way over to the table. The same ones who had done unspeakable things to her and caused her pain and humiliation. _No _.  
__

Avery’s stomach hit the floor and she felt as though she might faint. She stepped a little closer to Rey and leaned over.  


“Rey, can we leave, _please _?”  
__

“Poe’s almost done and then we’ll head back to the Falcon.” Rey noticed how pale Avery’s face had become. It looked like she was either going to pass out or throw up, maybe both. Avery was almost sidled up to her now and kept staring off behind her.  


“Hey, what’s the matter……Avery?”  


She was frozen in place and had a look of terror in her eye when four large men walked up to the table they were at.  


“Long time no see baby doll” the largest man with a missing tooth said as his eyes roamed up and down her body.  


Avery shuddered and immediately hid behind Rey.  


“Well who’s this lovely piece of eye candy?” He gestured toward Rey, who was immediately creeped out.  


“Poe” Rey nudged him quickly.  


The scavenger looked back at Avery taking refuge behind Rey, wishing they would just leave her alone.  


“The other night was fun honey, we were hoping to do it again sometime. But it looks here like you may be trying to leave us. Now why would you want to do such a thing?”  


“Poe” Rey said more urgently.  


Poe turned around to see what was causing Rey to be so freaked out, he hadn’t even noticed the scavengers come up to the table.  


“There a problem here gentlemen?” Poe asked trying to read out the situation.  


“As a matter of fact yes, we don’t appreciate you two coming up here and taking what’s ours.” The leader raised his voice out of agitation.  


“Look pal, the oil and fuel is free for trade, it’s anyone’s game.” Poe argued.  


“I’m not talking about the supplies asshole. I’m talking about _her _” he said as he pointed to Avery.  
__

As soon as he said it, Poe knew _exactly _who these guys were. It took everything in him to not shoot them now with his blaster. He looked down at Avery to see she was completely hidden behind Rey, trembling, with tears beginning to run down her cheeks.  
__

“She doesn’t belong to you, or anyone, alright? Just let the girl be.” Poe was fuming inside and wanted nothing more than to take this guy out, not to mention his cronies. He turned around to Rey and Avery,  


“Come on, let’s grab the fuel and get out of here.”  


“Not so fast flyboy. I’m not letting the best fuck I’ve ever had leave just like that. Plus, how could she want to leave me, I mean, I was her first.” He turned toward Avery whose cheeks were burning red of embarrassment.  


“You always remember your first, right honey?”  


Poe veered around when he heard a loud crack and saw the scavenger on the ground with blood pouring out of his nose, and Rey standing over him.  


“Say one more word, I kriffing dare you!”  


The others had pulled blasters on her just as Poe grabbed his. Rey reached around her back and pulled her blue lightsaber out of its holder. _This isn’t good _.  
__

“Listen up! You guys are gonna let us go, and no one gets their head sliced off or anything else that might get in the way.”  


The scavengers took one look at Rey and another at their leader on the ground bleeding, and dropped their blasters. Poe looked over at his woman in wonderment; she always got the upper hand on the enemy. Not to mention, she didn’t look half bad doing so.  


Rey put her lightsaber away and grabbed Avery’s hand, then took off towards the dunes. Poe grabbed the supplies and ran off after them making sure to keep his blaster drawn. Avery tensed under the human contact but couldn’t deny that she felt safer with Rey holding her hand.


	5. Chapter 5

Poe, Rey, and Avery made it back to the Falcon without saying much of anything to each other. Avery decided on the walk over that she couldn’t stay here. Poe and Rey had saved her from being taken by the group of men, but nothing was stopping them from coming back once they left.  


Avery was beyond humiliated in front of Poe and Rey. Her biggest secret that she had never wanted them to know, had been divulged. _They probably think I wanted to sleep with all those men, how could they want to take me with them now that they know what happened _?  
__

Rey watched as Avery sat back inside her house as her and Poe began gathering things together to leave. Avery looked both embarrassed and heartbroken. Rey and Poe’s suspicions had been confirmed by the men and Rey wished she could just hold Avery and comfort her. No thirteen year old should have to go through what she did.  


Rey wanted to bring up what happened but knew if she did, Avery would just retreat farther into herself. Eventually, she would get Avery to talk to her. It wasn’t good to keep something like this bottled up inside.  


“Hey honey, why don’t you gather up the stuff you want to take with you so we can head out.” Rey smiled sadly.  


“I can still come with you?” Avery wondered.  


“Of course you can! What makes you think we revoked our offer?” Rey questioned.  


Avery wanted to tell Rey _everything _but she just couldn’t. She knew that Rey had risked her life to save her but Avery still didn’t trust her fully. She couldn’t explain why if someone asked, but her trust had been broken too many times before.  
__

“Nevermind, I’ll get my stuff together.” Avery quickly responded.  


Rey grabbed a few things that she had returned for but noticed the only thing Avery had with her was the doll.  


“That all?”  


Avery nodded her head and swiftly walked toward the Falcon. She walked on board and was mesmerized by the inside of the ship. Poe walked towards her with a small grin on his face, but Avery could sense his pity. She didn’t want to feel like Rey and Poe pitied her. It was already bad enough they both knew what happened to her, having them pity her made her feel more ashamed.  


“Why don’t I show you to your room?” Poe asked.  


Avery nodded her head and followed Poe down one of the corridors. There were two rooms on each side towards the end. Each had two single beds in them along with a dresser and table. Poe walked into the one on the left,  


“This one’s yours Avery, Rey and I are right across the hall if you need us and the fresher is right next door.”  


Poe noticed Avery hadn’t entered the room while he was in it, she stayed in the doorway looking around from there. His eyes drifted down to the clothing she had been wearing since yesterday and realized she didn’t have anything packed with her except for the doll in her hand.  


“Here, follow me.” Poe gestured over to the room across the hall. Avery watched as he started going through the drawers in his and Rey’s dresser. The beds in their room had been pushed together to create one large bed. The inside of their room felt cozy, like they had made it a miniature home. Poe pulled out a large, olive t shirt with the resistance symbol on the sleeve, and handed it to Avery.  


“Why don’t you put this on, change out of those clothes you’ve been wearing? I’m sure Rey has an extra pair of pants you can borrow.” He said as he ransacked through her drawer.  


“I can’t find anything. I’ll have to ask Rey. I swear that girl is still a scavenger at heart, only uses the bare minimum.”  


Avery gave a smile and headed into the fresher to change into the large shirt Poe had given her. She was grateful to have something clean to wear for once. Avery was eager to get rid of what was left of her clothing from the night of the incident. She stripped off the disgusting rags and slipped Poe’s shirt over her head. It came down around her thighs and smelled like him.  


Avery drew a tiny smirk at the feeling of comfort that surprisingly overwhelmed her. That is, until she realized the shirt didn’t cover the bruises that were still completely visible on her thighs. _Great, now they’ll be on display for everyone to see, because they needed another reminder of what happened thrown in their face _. Avery walked out of the fresher praying Poe didn’t notice.  
__

“I’m sorry that’s all I have for you. I traded the spare clothing we had for fuel but once we get back on base, there will be plenty of extra stuff you can wear.”  


Avery nodded and followed Poe back down the long hallway. She found Rey sitting in what looked like the ship’s version of a living room. There was a round couch with a circular table sitting in the middle of it. On the opposite wall there was a panel of computers and screens. The rest of the room looked extremely mechanical and not very welcoming. Poe had gone into the cockpit and was beginning to turn on the engines.  


Rey patted the spot next to her when she saw Avery standing there looking lost. Avery swiftly moved to sit next to her and Rey noticed she had one of Poe’s shirts on. Rey’s heart melted at the sweet gesture from Poe but felt bad that she had only packed one extra outfit. To be fair, Rey hadn’t known they would be picking up a third passenger.  


She noticed how Avery was uncomfortably pulling the shirt down around her legs, trying to stretch it as far as it would go. Back when Rey first saw Avery in the AT-AT, she had noticed the bruises on her wrists and arms, but couldn’t see any others. Now, she could tell why Avery was trying to cover herself. Finger prints and scratches began at her knees and went higher up Avery’s legs than Rey wished to think about.  


Rey grabbed a blanket that was sitting at the end of the couch and handed it to Avery, who took it appreciatively and draped it over her bottom half. Rey felt something next to her and was shocked to look down and find Avery leaning her head on Rey’s shoulder. She took a chance and put her arm around Avery’s waist, trying to make her more comfortable as she felt the Falcon take off.  


She was relieved when Avery didn’t move away or tense under her touch. They were finally getting somewhere.


	6. Chapter 6

Poe set the Falcon on autopilot and stepped out of the cockpit. He walked into the main room to find Rey watching a holovid of flight simulations as Avery slept on her shoulder.  


“Hey” Poe whispered.  


“Hey” She whispered back with a smirk.  


Poe walked over and sat next to Rey on the couch. If Avery hadn’t been asleep on her, Rey would have cuddled into Poe’s lap and closed her eyes, she felt so exhausted from the past couple of days.  


“Thanks for giving Avery your shirt, that was really sweet.”  


Poe leaned over and planted a kiss on Rey’s forehead.  


“Of course, I just wanted her to be comfortable. I couldn’t find a pair of pants to give her though, do you even own more than two outfits?” Poe laughed.  


“Yes, but I travel light. You on the other hand pack like you’re moving.” Rey swatted at his chest.  


“I like to have options!” Poe argued.  


“Shh! You’ll wake up Avery.” Rey hissed.  


“Should we bring her to her room?”  


Rey nodded and slowly began to sit up. Avery stirred quietly next to her as Poe walked over to her side of the couch. He scooped Avery up into his arms and carried her bridal style to her room. Poe walked in and placed her gently on the bed. Rey covered her with blankets and lightly kissed Avery’s temple.  


Poe walked hand in hand with Rey back to their room, hoping to catch a couple hours of sleep before he had to return to the cockpit. Poe sat on the edge of the bed while Rey undressed and put on her pajamas which consisted of a t shirt and stretch pants.  


“You headed to bed too?” Poe asked Rey.  


“I might go to sleep, but I know of something else we could do instead.” Rey flirted as she removed Poe’s shirt.  


Poe laughed and head over to the door to turn out the lights.  


____________________________________________________________________

Avery woke up for the third time that night drenched in sweat and pretty sure her own screams were the cause of her awoken state. The first time she woke up, she almost had a panic attack trying to figure out where she was and how she got there. Then it hit her that she was in her room on the Millennium Falcon. Avery vaguely remembered the feeling that she was being carried and assumed either Poe or Rey had taken her to her bedroom after she fell asleep.  


Avery stood shakily and paced around her room trying to calm down. She had nightmares before but she had always been able to relax eventually and fall back asleep. Then, Avery realized what was missing. _Oh no! Where’s my doll? I brought it onboard, where did it go _? Avery ran out of her room and without thinking, went straight across the hall to Poe and Rey’s door.  
__

Avery knocked nervously, “Rey, are you awake?”  


She didn’t want to be a nuisance but Avery knew if she couldn’t find her doll, she wouldn’t sleep for the rest of the night. Avery was blindsided when a shirtless Poe opened the door looking like she had woken him up from a deep sleep.  


Avery blushed and looked down towards the floor.  


“Um, I’m so sorry to wake you Poe, but I was wondering if Rey could help me with something.”  


Poe looked back at his sleeping girlfriend and decided he would feel guilty if he woke her.  


“What is it you need help with?”  


Avery blushed further and wouldn’t meet Poe’s eye line.  


“IcantfindmydollandIneedittosleep.” Avery spat out hurriedly in one breath.  


Poe grinned, “okay, well let’s go find it.” He turned around to find his shirt on the floor before pulling it over his head.  


“I needed to get up anyway and get back to the cockpit.” He offered sensing Avery’s guilt.  


Avery wished she had just looked for it herself before coming to Poe and Rey’s door. Now she was stuck alone with just her and Poe while Rey was asleep. He could try something and Rey would be none the wiser. A tiny voice in the back of Avery’s head tried to convince her that Poe wouldn’t do such a thing. He had saved her from the men who were capable of such acts.  


“I think I remember seeing it lying on the couch.” Poe walked into the main room and sure enough, her doll was sitting right there. Avery felt so stupid as she walked over to take it from Poe. First, she needed a doll to sleep through her nightmares, and then she wakes up Poe to ask him to look for it even though it was never lost in the first place.  


Poe noticed Avery’s embarrassment and felt the need to try and put the young girl at ease.  


“Have you ever been in the cockpit of a ship?”  


Avery shook her head as a big smile fell over Poe’s face. He led Avery up to the front of the Falcon and watched as her eyes widened in fascination.  


“Here, have a seat.” He gestured to the co-pilot’s chair.  


Avery hopped in and looked around. They were traveling through hyperspace and she couldn’t help but be mesmerized at the stars whizzing past their ship. Poe settled into the pilot’s seat next to her and surveyed their coordinates. Avery watched Poe work until his eyes met hers. Poe figured it was as good a time as any to talk and he was tired of sweeping what happened under the rug.  


“Hey listen, about what happened back there…” Poe began.  


Avery immediately tensed and felt her face growing red. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Poe. She just wished they could forget it ever happened.  


“You know it wasn’t your fault what happened to you, and what those jerks said, is no reflection of you as a person.” Poe noticed Avery hugging her knees to her chest and the dark crimson spreading on her cheeks.  


“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you did nothing wrong.” Poe offered softly. He reached his hand out to touch Avery’s shoulder but retracted it when she flinched.  


“Please Poe, I don’t want to talk about this.” Avery spoke with her forehead resting on her knees, hiding her face.  


“Sweetheart…” Poe murmured.  


“No!” Avery shouted. “Can’t you see I’m humiliated? They raped me! I have nightmares about it every night. I can’t sleep without seeing them on top of me. Every time I look at you I can’t help but wonder if you’ll do the same things they did!” Avery cried.  


She leapt out of her seat and turned around to find Rey standing in the doorway. Avery ran past her down the hall towards her bedroom, sobbing. Rey looked at Poe with sad eyes and knew he was just trying to do his best. She decided to follow Avery down the hallway to her bedroom. On the other side of the door, Rey’s heart broke as she listened to Avery crying harder than she thinks she has ever heard someone cry. It was deep and visceral, and Rey knew she had to go to her.  


Avery layed on her bed hugging her arms to herself and losing breath as heart wracking sobs filled the room. She hadn’t let herself cry like this since she was raped. She couldn’t hear or concentrate on anything but her tears until she felt arms around her. Avery looked up to see Rey sitting next to her on the bed holding her as she cried. Avery put her face in the crook of Rey’s neck and allowed Rey to pull her onto her lap.  


“Breathe honey, just breathe.” Rey whispered as she rocked Avery back and forth, rubbing small circles on her back.  


After a few minutes, Avery began to get her breathing in check and looked up at Rey with a tear stained face. Rey wiped Avery’s cheeks with the palm of her hand.  


“I miss my parents.” Avery confessed softly.  


“It’s okay to miss your parents, I miss mine sometimes too.” Rey admitted.  


“What happened to yours?” Avery inquired.  


“Not sure. All I know is the last thing I remember was being four and getting left on my own on Jakku.”  


“That’s awful, I’m sorry Rey. I was ten when I lost them. The First Order came to our village and killed everyone, including my parents. For some reason, I was spared.” Avery said sadly.  


“Wait a minute, that must have been about three years ago. Poe mentioned something about that to me a while ago…I think he was there.” Rey exclaimed.  


Avery thought to herself for a second. _I don’t remember seeing Poe there, unless, wait, the man kneeling on the ground. That must have been Poe _.  
__

“I think I remember seeing him, but he was whisked off onto one of their ships before I got a good look.”  


“Yeah, he was taken captive by the First Order, tortured for information by a now Sith Lord.” Rey said somberly.  


“Poe was tortured?”  


Rey nodded her head. Poe could relate to what Avery had been through on some level. He knew what it was like to have all your power stripped away and be at the mercy of someone else. She immediately felt guilty for what she had said to Poe and felt the tears return to her eyes. _He probably hates me now. I’ve been nothing but awful to him _. Avery knew she had to try to apologize to him later but all of a sudden, she felt incredibly exhausted. She realized she hadn’t really gotten more than an hour of sleep before the nightmares woke her.  
__

Avery let her eyes close as Rey continued to hold her and murmur comforting words into her ear.


	7. Chapter 7

Avery woke up a few hours later still wrapped up in Rey’s arms. She realized this was the first time she wasn’t woken up by a nightmare. Rey had also fallen asleep at some point as well. Avery stirred next to her which woke Rey up instantly, thinking something was wrong.  


“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”  


“You’re fine, I should wake up anyway, we are probably getting close to the base.”  


Rey and Avery made their way out of the room and walked towards the main corridor. They spotted Poe sitting on the rounded sofa eating one of the freeze dried meals. He looked up with a slight smile as he noticed them enter. Rey and Poe made eye contact and Rey decided to head to the cockpit and check their coordinates to give Avery and him some alone time.  


Avery sat next to Poe in silence for a few awkward seconds, not sure what to say to him.  


“Poe, I’m so sorry about earlier, I was upset and shouldn’t have said what I did to you.”  


“Sweetheart, don’t worry about it, you have nothing to apologize for. You have always been timid around me and now it makes sense why. I don’t blame you for expressing your emotions and what you were feeling. That’s what I _wanted _you to do. You were so upset and nervous all the time but would never tell Rey or myself why. I wish you were able to come to us on your own and talk about it instead of what transpired on Jakku, but you seem more at ease now.” Poe said hopefully.  
__

Avery always felt a flutter in her stomach whenever Poe called her sweetheart. It took her back to when she would scavenge with her dad and he would always call her that, sometimes more than her actual name.  


“Speaking of Jakku, Rey and I were talking and I realized that we almost met once.”  


Poe looked at her like she had suddenly grown three heads.  


“You were in my village the night the First Order came and destroyed it. I remember seeing you kneeling in front of a hooded creature. Then they took you aboard one of their ships.”  


“You were in the village the night of the massacre?” Poe couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  


“Yeah, that’s when my parents were killed and I for some reason was spared.” Avery said as she looked down at her hands.  


“Well, I am certainly glad that you were…If I had known someone had survived, I would have come back for you, you should know that.” Poe looked over at Avery and nudged her arm playfully. _But he did come back for me, with Rey. Even if that wasn’t their intention _.  
__

Avery scooted closer to Poe and allowed him to put his arm around her.  


“You excited to finally get to the base?” Poe asked.  


“I guess. I’m just a little nervous is all.”  


“Don’t be, I think you’re really gonna like it there. Plus I know Rey is excited for you to meet Finn. I just know you two will get along and cause all kinds of trouble.”  


Avery liked the sound of possibly having a normal life on D’Qar. She was also excited to meet this Finn character.  


“So you and Rey are still fighter pilots for the Resistance?” Avery inquired.  


“Technically yes, but we haven’t been out on a mission in weeks. Everything has sort of quieted down for the moment. I’m not sure how long that will last, but it’s been nice. The base is still fully functioning but people have been able to live their lives more the past month or so. Once this whole thing is over, people will go their separate ways I guess.”  


That thought made Avery sad. When it was all over, where would she end up? Still with Rey and Poe if they wanted her she guessed. Rey entered the room not a minute later.  


“We’re about five minutes out, Finn and the General are gonna meet us in the hanger bay. She’s trying to keep our arrival quiet so you don’t get bombarded by people Avery.”  


Poe and Rey both returned to the cockpit and Avery was left sitting in silence. She walked back to her room to grab her doll and made her way back to the front when she felt them land. Poe and Rey came around the corner cheerily. Rey reached out her hand for Avery to hold onto and the three made their way down the ramp of the Falcon.  


Avery could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she walked out of the ship with Rey and Poe. She couldn’t explain why she was so nervous, she just was. As they reached the bottom, Avery saw a young man around Rey’s age standing next to an older woman. She assumed this must be Finn and the General.  


Subconsciously, Avery began to slowly fall back behind Rey and Poe, trying to hide behind them. She felt so exposed. Avery remembered that she was only wearing Poe’s shirt and her bruises were clearly visible to all. Rey gave Finn a big hug and she could sense both their happiness. The General and Poe shook hands and then all eyes went to her. Avery immediately felt her cheeks become flushed and darted behind Rey again.  


“Well, you must be Avery, Poe and Rey said I should be expecting a new visitor. My name is General Organa, but you can call me Leia.” She said sweetly.  


Finn bent down to Avery’s level and gave her a little wave. Avery couldn’t help but smile and wave back.  


“I’m Finn, it’s nice to meet you Avery. A friend of Poe and Rey is a friend of ours!” Finn said happily.  


“Finn, why don’t you walk Avery and Rey back to their rooms while I talk to Poe about some things?” General Leia suggested.  


Avery didn’t realize how tightly she was holding Rey’s hand until Rey glanced down and squeezed her shoulder.  


“Sorry”  


Rey gave her a wink and led her down the hallway with Finn, who was bursting at the seams to talk to Avery but Rey had warned him it takes time for her to warm up to people, especially men. Whatever that meant.  


The base was a lot for Avery to take in. There were people everywhere she looked along with huge corridors of what she assumed contained bedrooms. There were multiple hangers with planes and weapons stored in them as well.  


Finn stopped in front of a door that was towards the end of one of the long hallways.  


“This will be your room Avery.” He said as he opened the door with the swipe of a keycard.  


The room didn’t look much different than hers on the Falcon, except this one only had a single bed in it. There was a desk in the corner and a wardrobe for clothing on the opposite wall. Avery noticed she had a private fresher attached and tried her hardest to contain her excitement.  


“We made sure to get you a room that was right next door to Poe and Rey’s, as long as you don’t mind of course.” Finn offered cheerily.  


Avery just gave him a smile and that seemed to satisfy him enough. From the few short minutes Avery had met Finn, she could tell he was the type of person that never stopped smiling or laughing. She couldn’t help but be envious at that kind of personality. None of this stopped her however, from being guarded and making sure to keep an eye on him at all times.  


______________________________________________________________________________ 

Leia led Poe back to her office on the base and they both sat down on opposite sides of her desk.  


“It’s good to see you two back.” The General exclaimed.  


“It’s good to be back, been a long trip, even though it was only a few days.” Poe said as he ran his hand through his curly hair.  


“Tell me about that, talk to me about Avery.”  


“It’s kinda complicated I guess. Rey and I went back to her old home on Jakku, which you knew. But, when we got there, we found out that Avery lived there now. She was so terrified of us and is only a little better now.” Poe began.  


“General….she’s had a tough and shitty life, to put it plainly.” Poe continued. Leia gave him a look to continue what he was saying.  


“I saw the bruises, and the fact that she was wearing your shirt, wanna tell me about that?” Leia spoke.  


“Her parents were killed during the attack on Jakku three years ago, the night I was captured by the First Order. She has been living on her own since then. Avery…she…was raped by a group of scavengers during that time alone. But please don’t lead on to her that you know. She’s still mortified that Rey and I found out and it’s definitely something she’s trying to keep secret, which you can’t blame her for.”  


Leia’s heart dropped to the floor listening to Poe. People were so cruel, especially in the Outer Rim. She could tell that already, Poe and Rey cared about Avery very much.  


“So, is she going to stay with you two?” Leia asked.  


Poe had to admit he hadn’t really thought about it. He was just trying to take it one hour at a time with Avery, still trying to get her to trust him. The thought hadn’t really occurred to him about the future.  


“Yes…Rey and I will take responsibility for her unless Avery chooses otherwise.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are still enjoying this story. I'm gonna probably make it between 15 to 20 chapters, then end it there. I might do a part two but I'm not sure yet. If you have any suggestions for where you want the story to go, please comment.

Rey had left with Finn to go to the canteen on base and grab them all some food. Rey thought it would be a better idea to eat in Avery’s room than overwhelm her with all the people in the canteen. Avery was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees, and holding onto her doll. She felt awkward in her new surroundings and like she didn’t fit in. Poe and Rey were going to go back to their normal lives. _Where does that leave me _? Avery heard a knock on her door and wearily went over to open it. Poe was standing on the other side and smiled when he saw her.__  


“May I come in, I think Rey and Finn are coming with food in a minute?”  


Avery nodded her head and went back over to sit on her bed. She felt a little better with him here, he was something familiar. They sat in a comfortable silence until Poe felt the need to strike up a conversation.  


“How do you like the base so far?”  


“It’s fine, a little intimidating I guess.”  


“Well, you know Rey and I will be right next door if you need us. We aren’t scheduled for a mission until next week and it’s just a quick scouting trip so we won’t be gone for long.”  


Just as Avery was going to respond, there was another knock at the door. Poe went over and opened it for Rey and Finn who were carrying more food than Avery had ever seen. They placed the food on the table in the middle of her room and sat in the chairs. Avery hopped off her bed and timidly walked over and sat between Rey and Poe with Finn across from her.  


Rey placed a bowl with some sort of liquid in it in front of her.  


“This is chicken noodle soup, it’s delicious and you should try it. Plus it’s easy on your stomach. I remember the first time I had food on base I got so sick from not being used to it.” Rey said.  


Avery picked up her spoon and tasted the soup. _This is amazing _. With a smile on her face, Avery began shoveling it down eagerly.__  


“Whoa, slow down, no one’s gonna take it from you.” Finn laughed.  


Avery blushed with embarrassment and noticed Rey shoot Finn a glare. Rey patted her back and said,  


“Don’t worry about it honey, you enjoy yourself.”  


Avery stayed quiet during the rest of dinner and only spoke one word answers when she was addressed. Finn had a funny sense of humor and Avery desperately wished it was easy for her to just welcome people with open arms. She wanted to get to know him more but she was nervous to. Dinner had ended and Poe and Finn picked up the trays and walked them back over to the canteen. Rey had disappeared somewhere for a minute and came back with a pile of clothes in her arms.  


“Here you go, I have shirts, leggings, stretch pants, nightgowns, jackets, socks, undergarments, breast bands and towels for the shower.” Rey explained as she began putting the clothes in Avery’s wardrobe and dresser drawers. Most of them looked pretty similar to what Rey had been wearing and she couldn’t believe how much there was. Even though Avery liked wearing Poe’s shirt, she was excited to have her own clothes.  


“Thank you.” Avery said softly.  


“Why don’t I run a bath for you and show you how everything works?” Rey offered.  


Avery followed her into the fresher that she was oh-so excited to have. She watched as Rey drew her a bath, mesmerized by the running water pouring out of the drain.  


“There is shampoo and conditioner on the shelf next to the tub and soap on the ledge. I put your towel on the counter of the sink.”  


Rey left Avery in peace to enjoy her bath. She felt completely relaxed in the warm water. This was her new favorite thing in the whole world and couldn’t believe she could take one every day. Avery had never had separate soap for her hair and body, hell, she barely even used soap on Jakku. She couldn’t believe how good each of the contents in the bottles smelled.  


After she felt her skin becoming wrinkled, she hopped out and grabbed her towel. Avery cracked open the fresher door to find her room empty. She walked over to her dresser and grabbed some undergarments to put on. After looking through her drawers, Avery decided she didn’t want to wear any of the night clothes Rey had given her. She wanted to wear Poe’s shirt, even though it was covered in dirt and sweat. Avery did however, happily grab a pair of stretch pants to put on under it. Her bruises had become a nasty shade of yellow but she knew after this stage, they would begin to disappear.  


Avery sat in her bed with her doll in hand prepared to go to sleep. She layed in bed for quite some time before realizing there was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep. She felt so alone and it was too quiet in this cold room. Quickly, Avery jumped out of bed and walked out her door. She quietly went over to Poe and Rey’s door and knocked. Rey answered, surprised to see her.  


“Oh, I was just gonna come over and say goodnight, but I guess you beat me to it. Do you want me to walk you back over to your room?”  


“Um…well, I was kinda wondering if I could stay in your room for a little while?” Avery asked shyly staring at her feet.  


Rey smiled and stepped aside, allowing Avery to walk in. She noticed a holovid playing on the nightstand and heard what she presumed was the shower running. It was the first time Avery had been in their room and immediately, it brought her comfort. There was a large bed against one wall, big enough to fit a couple people. There was a table and chairs like in her room, and two wardrobes instead of one. On the far wall, she noticed a large staff leaning against the wall in the corner.  


Rey walked back over to the bed and climbed in patting the spot next to her for Avery to join. Avery happily got in bed and snuggled next to Rey, who held her close. Rey noticed she was still wearing Poe’s shirt even though she had plenty of clothes to wear now.  


“So tomorrow morning I have to bring you over to medical to get you looked over and have some vaccinations, then I thought we could just hang out and spend some time with Finn.” Rey stated.  


Avery liked the second half of what Rey had said but she shuddered at the thought of having to see a doctor, she wasn’t going to allow anyone to look over anything. _It’s not gonna happen _. Just then, the fresher door opened and Poe walked out with nothing on except a towel around his waist.__  


“Oh, Jeez!” He shouted as he saw Avery, and ran back into the fresher. Rey laughed so hard there were tears while she put her hand over Avery’s eyes.  


“You’re good Poe, come out and get your clothes, dummy.” Now it was Avery’s turn to laugh. Rey took her hand away once Poe was fully dressed and trying to decide what to do. Maybe he should sleep in Avery’s bed tonight so she can sleep in here with Rey.  


“Hey, Avery do you mind if I sleep in your room tonight?” Poe asked as he walked towards the door.  


“Wait, you’re leaving?” She asked leaning over Rey.  


Rey grinned at Poe and he began to walk over to the bed. Avery giggled happily and scooted over closer to Rey so she could be between them both. Poe and Rey had never seen her so happy and comfortable around them, and it was something they wouldn’t soon forget. Poe pulled a blanket over Avery as he layed in bed. She snuggled her way underneath with her back to Poe and reached out for Rey’s hand, who held it back softly. It was only minutes later that Avery fell fast asleep.  


______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a few hours after everyone had fallen asleep that Poe was suddenly stirred awake by something. He sat up to find Avery tossing and turning next to him whimpering, covered in sweat. He nudged Rey awake trying to judge how to deal with the situation. Rey grabbed Avery’s shoulders and began trying to wake her up.  


“Avery, honey, it’s just a nightmare, you’re okay.” Rey cooed as Avery jerked awake with a scream.  


Avery was immediately overwhelmed with terror and embarrassment, which resulted in her breaking down in tears. Poe tried to pull her into a hug but as soon as his hands grabbed her waist, she was transported back into her nightmare. Avery cried and moved as far away from Poe as possible, essentially sitting on Rey’s lap as Rey rubbed her back trying to calm the young girl. Poe had a look of heartbreak on his face as he realized he couldn’t comfort Avery.  


He decided to get out of bed and grab a warm washcloth to put on Avery’s neck in hopes of calming her sobs. It seemed to do the trick as her breathing began to return to normal. Poe wished more than anything that he could take away all the pain Avery felt, as he looked over at her red rimmed eyes and tear stained face. Both Poe and Rey stayed awake while Avery rested on Rey’s chest trying to fall back asleep. _It’s gonna be a long night _.__  


Only about an hour later, Avery shook as she pleaded with the person in her nightmare to stop hurting her. Poe and Rey wondered if it was like this every night or if it was just worse because Avery was in a new environment surrounded by strangers. Once again, Avery cried as Poe and Rey tried to lull her back to sleep with backrubs, warm towels, and cuddles.  


By the third incident, they both knew it was time to call it quits for the night. Neither would be getting more than another hour or two of sleep so they decided to try and take a walk. Rey lifted Avery into her arms with Avery facing her, wrapping her arms and legs around her, trying to maintain sleep. Rey held her under her legs as Avery rested her head on Rey’s shoulder. Rey tried to forget about Avery’s heaviness, but secretly wished she would allow Poe to hold her. The trio walked through the halls of the base hoping the rocking motion would calm her enough for a couple hours of dream free sleep.  


“Why don’t we walk outside the hanger bay, watch the sunrise?” Poe suggested.  


The early morning air was cool and crisp, with dew drops covering the soft grass. Avery shivered a little, making Rey hold her just a little closer. They sat under a tree that stood atop of a hill and waited for the sun to rise. When it did, Poe looked down to see both Rey and Avery asleep, with Rey’s head on Poe’s shoulder. Poe leaned down to kiss the top of Rey’s head and realized how much he loved seeing Avery asleep on her chest. It brought happiness and a sense of home to him. In that moment, he decided that no matter what, they would stick by Avery and do everything they could for her.


	9. Chapter 9

Rey woke up with Poe’s hands running through her hair and realized she was laying on the ground. Her head was in Poe’s lap as he was sitting up against the tree. She looked down to see Avery was still wrapped up in her arms.  


“How long have I been asleep?”  


“About an hour, I was going to wake you ‘cause it’s time to bring Avery to medical.”  


Rey sat up slowly and discovered how cold she was from laying in the wet grass. She slowly let her hands stroke Avery’s face and hair trying to wake her up softly. She stirred awake but looked like she could have used another few hours of sleep.  


“Morning, baby girl, it’s time to go over to the medical ward.” Rey said quietly.  


Nervousness and anxiety fell over Avery as she didn’t know what to expect. She had never been to a doctor before and didn’t like the sound of it.  


They walked over to medical all the while Avery’s heart beat out of her chest more with every step. They reached a desk with a woman sitting behind it. Rey said something that Avery couldn’t hear over her heartbeat. Soon they were led into a room with a bed and cabinets on the walls. Rey picked Avery up and put her down on the medical bed, and sat down next to her. Poe pulled up a chair next to them and the three sat in silence.  


“Should I have changed my clothes before we got here?” Avery asked looking at Rey.  


“No it’s okay, we’ll go back to the room and get ready afterwards, you won’t be wearing them during the exam anyway.”  


“Wait…” Avery squeaked out just as the door opened and two women walked inside.  


“Hi, you must be Avery, I’m doctor Kalonia.” The older women spoke to Avery as she shook her hand.  


The doctor shot a smile to Rey and Poe who said hi back.  


“So we are just going to take a quick look at you and get you some vaccinations so you’ll be okay to live on base.” _Yeah, that’s not happening _.  
__

“Rey also told me about the _incident _on Jakku, so we’ll make sure there’s no lasting damage from that, and then you’ll be free to go.”  
__

Avery’s face immediately flushed and felt an overwhelming urge to run out of the room. _They know _. Rey noticed Avery’s anxiety and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She watched as the older woman got out some scary looking torture like devices and felt herself shudder.  
__

“Let’s get your clothes off dear.” The doctor began. _What, no _.  
__

“No, I’m not taking anything off!” Avery yelled as she began to panic.  


Poe thought maybe she was uncomfortable with him being in there during the exam, so he got up to wait outside. Avery saw him leave and only panicked further. She felt tears welling up behind her eyes.  


“Hon, they just need to check and see if you’re alright.” Rey explained softly.  


“No!” Avery shouted as she put her arms around herself. _They’re not going to see what those men did to me _.  
__

The doctor and nurse looked to Rey for guidance as they realized they weren’t going to get anywhere soon.  


“How about we just take off your pants and leave on Poe’s shirt? Then you’ll still be covered?” Rey offered.  


Avery thought about it and decided they weren’t going to let her leave until she complied. She nodded her head and let Rey scoot her pants off of her. She immediately pulled the shirt down over herself when she saw the doctor look at her bruises.  


“May I examine your legs dear?” Dr. Kalonia asked.  


Avery shrugged and held onto Rey’s hand a little tighter. The doctor took note of the coloration and placement of the bruises and saw the nurse writing something down on a piece of paper.  


“Well it looks like they are beginning to disappear, have you felt pain since that night?”  


Avery certainly didn’t want to admit that she had been in excruciating pain for two days after, and could barely walk that first day, so she stayed quiet. The doctor took her silence as a ‘yes’ and kept asking her mortifying questions.  


“Were you a virgin before the incident happened?” She asked a blushing Avery who hid her face behind Rey’s arm.  


Rey told the doctor she had been and Kalonia insisted that any pain she felt was normal and to not worry about it.  


“It’s bad enough that you were assaulted by four men, but your body had never experienced something like that, pain is to be expected. “  


Avery wished the floor would just swallow her up. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with someone she didn’t know, and in front of Rey.  


The nurse went out to prepare her vaccinations since Avery wouldn’t allow them to exam her any more than they had. She didn’t wear a breast band to sleep, and therefore, wasn’t wearing one now. So taking her shirt off was completely out of the question. The doctor had finally given up, and just sent the nurse out for the vaccines. She walked back in with Poe behind her. Poe and Rey each held Avery’s hands while she got vaccinated. It didn’t hurt too bad but certainly wasn’t a pleasant experience.  


Avery practically ran out of the medical ward once she was told she was free to go. They all went back to their rooms to get dressed and ready for the day. Poe and Rey decided it would be fine to take Avery to the canteen for breakfast. It was a little later in the day so most people would have already eaten. Rey invited Finn to join them which intrigued Avery. She really wanted to try to get to know him better. Rey seemed to like him so much.  


They all arrived at the canteen and Finn sat at a table with Avery while Poe and Rey grabbed food.  


“So, how are you liking everything so far?” Finn asked.  


“It’s cool, I’ve never been off Jakku, so it’s different.” She replied honestly.  


“You remind me a lot of Rey when she first got here, except you are acting much cooler about it.” Finn joked.  


“Really?”  


“Oh yeah, the first time we put food in front of her, I had to teach her how to use silverware. Poe and I thought she was about to put her whole face in the plate!”  


Avery giggled and laughed as Finn kept telling her stories about Rey.  


As Poe and Rey were walking back over to the table, she grabbed Poe by the arm.  


“Look” she said quietly.  


Poe looked up and saw the huge smile on Avery’s face as Finn was animatedly telling her a story. They both watched as she held her stomach laughing. It was something they wanted to witness forever. Poe looked over at Rey,  


“She’s gonna be okay.” He said resolutely.  


Rey nodded, “She’s gonna be okay.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't been able to update as regularly lately. I'm taking a summer class that has been taking up a lot of my time but I'm trying to get a chapter up at least once a week.

The four of them laughed and ate breakfast together happily. Avery was enjoying Finn’s company very much. Even though she was still wary around him, something about Finn also put her at ease. He seemed like an old friend.  


“Hey, we should take Avery down to the lake!” Finn suggested.  


“Sure.” Rey answered.  


“What’s at the lake?” Avery wondered.  


“It’s where everyone goes to have picnics and swim, it’s beautiful and the water is always so refreshing.” Finn made it sound like the place to be and Avery was eager to go.  


They all finished breakfast and grabbed some food on the way out that they could take down to the lake for a picnic. Avery was practically jumping up and down pulling them to move quicker to this grand adventure they were about to have.  


They walked through the woods and only after a short while were greeted by the beautiful sight that was the lake on D’Qar. It was shimmering in the mid-morning sun and Avery couldn’t believe she was looking at something so beautiful. She couldn’t wrap her head around the concept that all this water was just sitting in one place, and it wasn’t being used for drinking.  


Poe and Rey sat their stuff under a tree while Finn went down to the edge of the lake to test the temperature of the water.  


“Feels great guys!” He shouted with a smile.  


As Avery watched Finn wading in the water, she realized something.  


“Hey, um, I can’t swim.” She said shyly as she walked over to Rey and Poe.  


“I know honey, don’t worry I’ll teach you.” Poe said as he began to strip off his shirt.  


Avery immediately turned around and regrettably felt her cheeks turning an embarrassingly dark shade of red. It wasn’t that she had a crush on Poe, at least she didn’t think she did, _dear force I hope not _, it was just uncomfortable for her to see him shirtless, or any man for that matter. Avery thanked whoever was listening that he didn’t take his shorts off too. Finn took his shirt off and threw it to Poe who put it with his clothes.  
__

She watched as they both ran straight into the lake splashing each other as they both submerged themselves.  


“Rey I don’t have anything to wear for swimming.” She said quietly.  


"No one does, we usually just go in our underclothes. I think the boys are being polite because you’re here, usually Poe has no problem going naked when it’s just me." Avery felt her blush return and covered her eyes hating that that image was now in her head. She heard Rey laugh as she began taking off the wrappings she wore on each arm. Soon Rey was down to her undergarments and made a move to help Avery take her shirt off.  


“Whoa, there’s no way I’m taking off my clothes!” She whispered harshly.  


“You can’t get them soaking wet that’ll be so uncomfortable!” Rey tried to reason with the young girl.  


Avery looked over Rey’s shoulder to see Poe and Finn were waiting for them, making her even tenser.  


“Is it because of Finn and Poe? It’s okay if you have a crush on them.” Rey said with an all knowing grin on her face.  


“Rey!” Avery exclaimed as she covered the redness of her face with her hands. “I don’t have a crush on them, that’s so weird!”  


“I’m just saying, all those hormones flying around I wouldn’t blame you…” Rey continued knowing she was embarrassing Avery but loved every second of it.  


“Ah!” Avery shouted while covering her ears.  


“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. How about I just tell them to turn around until you get in the water?”  


Avery nodded thankful that Rey had dropped the “crush” subject.  


Avery quickly undressed down to her undergarments while the boys’ backs were turned and held Rey’s hand as they walked down to the water. It wasn’t even the slightest bit chilly as she began to walk in. Poe held his hand out for her and Avery jumped toward him to where it was a little deeper. It felt a little weird to have Poe’s hands on her bare stomach. She tried to keep herself in the mindset that she was safe with him and he wouldn’t try anything with her.  


The water came up to her waist but Poe insisted on pulling her around in front of him as he ran around backwards. They were enjoying making waves as he would pull her quickly towards him, then catch her in his arms.  


Rey was watching while standing next to Finn and felt her heart melt as she watched Poe play around with Avery. They had come a long way in such a short while. If a week ago someone would have told Rey that the girl cowering in front of them who wouldn’t speak, was now laughing and playing with them, she wouldn’t have believed it.  


“He seems to really care about her.” Finn said in a low voice with a smile on his face.  


“We both do.” Rey responded.  


Avery was having fun splashing around with Poe, but she wanted to learn how to swim.  


“Now, it’ll take a few sessions before you’ll fully be able to swim on your own, but I’ll show you some basics today.” Poe started.  


“Let’s begin with floating on your back. If you ever fall into the water and don’t know what to do, floating on your back is the quickest way to guarantee you won’t drown.”  


Avery felt herself tense when Poe put a hand to the small of her back. She wished she didn’t but she couldn’t help it.  


“Do you trust me?” Poe asked in a hushed tone.  


_I want to _.  
__

Avery nodded and felt Poe put his other hand under her knees and lift her so she was lying on her back. Avery reached over and grabbed Poe’s arms, nervous she would start to sink under the water.  


“I gotcha sweetheart.”  


Avery relaxed a little and began to feel herself floating on top of the water now with Poe’s hands only resting under her shoulder blades for support. She felt so at peace floating on top of the lake with Poe holding onto her, knowing Rey and Finn were only a few feet away.  


Avery eventually sat up straight and planted her feet on the bottom of the lake.  


“Rey! I was floating, did you see?” Avery shouted.  


“I saw! That was so good baby girl!” Rey replied.  


Poe watched as Avery shot him a thousand watt smile.  


“Thanks Poe!” She said as she put her arms around him. Avery kept her arms around his neck as he took them out a little deeper to swim around.  


Soon they all got out to eat lunch, and Poe noticed Avery was acting a little shy being out of the water in just her underclothes. He grabbed his shirt from earlier and pulled it over her head, for which she looked grateful.  


“I promise I’ll actually give this one back to you.” Avery offered.  


“Don’t worry about it, my shirts suit you.” Poe laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

After a heated game of marco polo, Poe, Rey, Finn, and Avery made their way back to the base to get washed up and put on some warm clothes.  


Avery showered in her room and walked over to Rey and Poe’s remembering everyone was going to hang out there until it was time for dinner. The door was cracked open and she walked in to find Finn sitting on the floor setting up a game of dajarak.  


“Come play a round with me Avery, I just whooped Poe’s butt!” Finn spoke as Avery sat across from him on the floor.  


“It was practically a tie!” Poe shouted from inside the fresher.  


Rey walked out with wet hair and her same outfit she always seemed to wear; her loose tank top and cropped leggings. Rey was a lot like Avery in that sense, she preferred wearing Poe’s shirts to anything Rey had given her, it was what was familiar.  


“Do you want me to put your hair up Avery? Get it off your neck so you’re not so cold?” Rey asked.  


“Sure” Avery shrugged.  


With that, Rey sat behind her with a hair brush and ties, combing her hair while she played a game with Finn.  


Just as Rey finished with Avery’s hair, Poe walked out of the fresher, done with his shower.  


“Oh my gosh, you’re like a tiny Rey!” He exclaimed while laughing.  


“Huh?” Avery wondered as she got up to look in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into three buns.  


“I used to wear my hair like that when I was younger.” Rey explained.  


_I love it _.__  


Avery grinned and sat back down in front of the board game. Poe and Rey sat on the bed going over flight plans and maneuvers for their next mission. Finn and Avery were down to their last move and it looked like Finn was going to win again.  


“Hey! You cheated, there’s no way I lost!” Argued Avery playfully.  


“Oh really?” Finn laughed as he leapt across the floor and began tickling Avery.  


Poe and Rey looked down to see Avery laughing and Finn on top of her tickling everywhere he could. Avery was laughing so hard she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Finn had climbed on top of her and was pinning her legs down so she couldn’t move away.  


_Wait _.__  


Her laughing began to dissipate as she slowly felt as though she really couldn’t breathe.  


_I can’t move _.__  


She was immediately brought back to that night as if she were still there.  


“ _Got ourselves a virgin here gents _”  
__

“Finn…” she tried to say but came out more inaudible than a whisper.  


“ _’laughing’, What’s the matter baby, I’ll make it good for you, promise _”  
__

Avery didn’t see Finn on top of her anymore, only the men who hurt her. She felt their cold hands clawing at her skin as they grunted in her ear.  


“No, Finn please stop…” Avery cried out with tears running down her face.  


There was pain, blood, humiliation. She heard them laughing as the next one took their turn.  


Finn looked down to see that Avery wasn’t crying from laughing anymore, she was just crying.  


“Avery?” He questioned softly as he got off of her.  


Poe and Rey jumped off the bed and knelt down next to Avery who was shaking and sobbing.  


“I-I’m so sorry Avery, I didn’t know!” Finn implored.  


“Please, please, stop!” Avery pleaded with her invisible tormentor.  


Poe leaned against the nearest wall and pulled Avery back to him as he spread his legs apart so she could sit between them and her back could rest on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and began to rock her to try and calm her heaving sobs.  


“Sweetie, come back to us. You’re safe, it’s okay, you’re here.” Rey soothed as she laid her hand against Avery’s cheek.  


Her vision began to come back and she realized she was sitting against Poe with Rey kneeling in front of her. Finn was looking on with a horrified expression. She continued to feel tears running down her cheeks and just couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard she tried. Her whole body was trembling as she leaned back against Poe’s chest. Rey was rubbing her legs as Poe ran his hands up and down her arms trying to keep her mind here, with them.  


“I’m sorry.” Avery whispered.  


“You have nothing to be sorry about, I’m the one that should be apologizing. Avery I’m so sorry that I scared you like that.” Finn offered.  


Avery felt like she wanted to die. She wanted a normal life with Poe and Rey but every time she started to feel happy, it would get taken away from her because of a memory.  


“Hey Finn, how about we go grab her some water, she’s in capable hands.” Rey said as she got off the floor and walked out with Finn.  


Avery turned a little so she could curl up against Poe’s chest. He hadn’t said anything but his presence offered her more comfort than any words could. Poe lifted her so she was sitting sideways on his lap and began to rub her back as he listened to her silent sobs. He placed small kisses on her forehead and hairline as he continued to hold her close to him.  


Avery never wanted to leave this moment. When she lived on Jakku, she would cry herself to sleep. She dreamed of having her parents there to kiss her goodnight and rock her to sleep. She wanted someone to hold her and rescue her from her nightmares. _I have that now _. Avery was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt Poe’s hand over her cheeks, wiping her tears away. She felt warm and safe in his arms and knew as long as she was in them, her mind wouldn’t be back on Jakku.__  


“I’m sorry I keep ruining things.” She whispered.  


Poe’s grip on her tightened as he responded, “Please don’t apologize love, it’s not your fault. And you’re not _ruining _anything. You’ve made our lives better and much more interesting since we met you, and I’m happy for it.”__  


Avery smiled and closed her eyes as she leaned into the crook of Poe’s neck as he continued to rub soothing circles on her back.  


“You know I get nightmares and flashbacks sometimes too?” Poe offered.  


“Really, from when you were tortured?” Avery asked cautiously.  


“Yeah. Even though it happened years ago, it still comes back to me when I’m having a stressful or rough time.” Poe explained somberly.  


“How do you deal with it?”  


“Rey has been my light through it all. Right after we started dating, I often couldn’t get through the night without having a nightmare, like you. She would stay up with me all night and we would talk or she would just hold me until I fell asleep. The key is having someone around you that will stick by you no matter what. And I promise you that Rey and I are going to stick by you.”  


Avery felt her whole body warm up with happiness and hopefulness. No one had ever stuck by her before, and she wanted to believe Poe that they would. A small part in the back of her head was nervous that she was ruining the progress Rey and Poe had made. They seemed so happy and she didn’t want to be the cause of any ugliness between them.  


Rey and Finn returned with water and food in hand. Finn held out a chocolate cupcake in front of him as a peace offering to Avery.  


“Avery, I talked to Rey and she told me what happened on Jakku. I don’t want you to think I will look at you any different now that I know, because I won’t. I still care about you and want to be your friend. I’m so sorry that I made you upset and I never want to be the cause of your pain again. Please forgive me.” Finn held out the cupcake with tears in his eyes.  


Avery felt a grin spread across her face as she took the cupcake from Finn and put her arms around his neck, hugging him.  


“Don’t worry about it Finn, you didn’t know. But, thank you.” She replied in a quiet voice.  


Avery stayed on Poe’s lap as she ate her more than delicious cupcake while the others ate their sandwiches and talked.  


“Are you ever going to let Poe stand up again? Or is he permanently glued to the floor now?” Rey joked.  


Avery blushed and immediately stood up, quite frankly forgetting that she had been sitting on Poe’s lap for so long. His legs had fallen asleep long ago but he didn’t have the heart to tell her to get up. Shakily, he stood up and stretched his legs before going over to sit at the table.  


After dinner, Finn and Poe went over to the cantina to have a few drinks with Snap to unwind. Rey and Avery were snuggled in Rey’s bed once again, watching a holovid. Avery didn’t want to go back to her room and be by herself, and Rey would be lying if she said she minded the company.  


“So I have a training session with Luke tomorrow and then I was gonna do some combat training in the arena to prepare for our next mission. Do you want to come with me?” Rey asked.  


“Luke, as in the famous Jedi?” Avery asked in awe.  


“Yep, he’s been training me for years and even though it’s finished, I still like to hone my skills before going out.”  


“Okay, I’m not very good at fighting though.” Avery looked down saddened.  


“That’s okay, learning the ways of the Jedi isn’t about fighting. Don’t worry, Luke will take good care of you.” Rey said as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Avery’s forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help myself, I had to add some sweetness between Poe and Avery.


	12. Chapter 12

Avery woke up in the morning sandwiched between Rey and Poe, who had come back late from the cantina. She realized she hadn’t woken up once from a nightmare, and was grateful for it. She slowly opened her eyes to the sun beaming in from the window above the bed. Avery felt so warm and comfortable and didn’t want this moment to end. Poe stirred next to her and reached over to wrap his arm around her and draw Avery closer to him. Poe started to rub circles on her back as she snuggled her head under his chin.  


“How’d you sleep hon?” Poe asked with a low voice he only had in the morning hours.  


“The best I’ve slept in a long time actually.” Avery smiled.  


Rey stretched out next to them, slowly waking up. She was going to take Avery to meditate with her this morning so she could meet Luke and join them during training today. Rey and Poe had to leave on their mission in a couple days and she wanted Avery to have a few people on base that she knew and could go to if she needed.  


Rey turned over so she was facing Poe and Avery to see them snuggled up. She hated to ruin the moment, but they had to get outside to meditate before the sun got too high.  


“Hey Avery, we have to get up and get dressed okay. Remember we are training today with Luke.”  


Avery groaned and tried to nestle closer to Poe, practically pushing him off the bed.  


“Do I have to?” She asked.  


“Yeah Rey, does she have to?” Poe looked at Rey with a pathetic frown and wide eyes.  


“Oh my gosh, I live with two children.” Rey exclaimed as she got out of bed pulling Avery with her.  


The two got dressed and were about to head out when Avery turned and walked back over to the bed where Poe was still trying to fall back asleep. She stood next to him and bent down to plant a kiss on his forehead.  


“Bye daddy.”  


Avery immediately felt her heart drop and face flush as she realized what she said. _Oh no _. She prayed Poe hadn’t heard but knew he had when his eyes opened to look up at her with his jaw open.__

Avery turned and ran out the door before he had time to say anything to her. _I’ve ruined everything, how could I have let that slip out _!_  
_

Rey hurried after her and grabbed her shoulder to turn her around.  


“Hey, Avery…”  


“I don’t want to talk about it, can we just forget it happened please?” Avery pleaded as she turned to keep walking, realizing she had no idea where they were going.  


Rey seemed to get the message and walked alongside Avery towards the woods. They walked for about five minutes until they got to the top of a hill overlooking the lake. Avery saw and man in robes sitting on the hill looking out.  


“Master Luke, I’ve brought a friend with me today, I hope you don’t mind.”  


Luke turned around to find himself facing a younger girl with Rey. Leia had told him Poe and Rey brought someone back from Jakku, he just hadn’t met her yet.  


“Of course not, the more the merrier.” Luke grinned as he looked at the girl who seemed to be in conflict with herself.  


Rey and Avery sat in front of Luke and crossed their legs. Avery watched as Rey closed her eyes and began breathing exercises. Avery couldn’t seem to relax herself enough to meditate, she couldn’t believe what she said to Poe this morning.  


Luke eyed the girl and felt sorry for her. He had heard the stories from Leia and couldn’t help but wonder if Rey had dealt with the same thing. He saw Rey as a daughter, and he and his sister felt the need to look out for her. But Rey had lived on Jakku alone for many years. She hadn’t divulged much about her time alone but Luke didn’t sense the same kind of struggle in Rey that he did with Avery.  


“Try to release your thoughts Avery. Let yourself be at peace.” Luke attempted.  


“Easier said than done.” Avery snapped.  


“What ails you child?”  


Avery remained quiet as she saw Rey looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She shouldn’t have come here with Rey. _This is gonna be bad _.  
__

“Avery, this is a safe space. You can say whatever you need to get off your chest and no judgment will be passed. Rey did the same when she first came to me with a heavy heart.”  


Avery looked between the two Jedi and felt that Luke was telling the truth. She would feel so much better if she just said what has been on her mind for the past few months and even years.  


“It’s just that…sometimes I feel like I got dealt a bad hand. I look around me and it seems like so many peoples’ lives worked out and everyone is happy. I’m just sitting over here trying not to have a mental breakdown every five seconds.”  


“What makes you feel like breaking down?” The older Jedi asked softly.  


Avery hesitated, “For starters, I miss my parents every day of my life. Some days I can’t even remember what they looked like, all I hear are their voices. I miss my dad more than anything. I miss the way he used to hold me and tell me stories before I fell asleep. I miss how he used to take me scavenging for the fun of it, not because we had to.” Avery felt the tears prickle behind her eyes, “I miss the way he used to call me sweetheart, and I hate myself for calling Poe dad this morning!” By now she was full on sobbing, trying to cover her face so the two wouldn’t realize how affected she was by everything.  


“I feel like I’m pretending that he or my mom never existed by getting close to Rey and Poe. I feel like my parents would be mad at me as if I were trying to replace them. But, I don’t want to forget them! And then I worry that Poe and Rey don’t love me or even like me because of how damaged I am. How could you love someone who was raped? I didn’t fight back! I should have fought back…” Avery heaved through her tears. Her mind was going to a million different grievances at once, and she felt like her world was spinning.  


She suddenly felt arms around her and opened her eyes to see Rey holding her with tears in her own eyes.  


“We do love you, Avery honey, how could you think that Poe and I don’t love you? We wish we could have been there to protect you that night. It kills us that you are plagued by nightmares and we can’t do anything about it.” Rey cried.  


Luke was glad that the young girl had finally admitted what had been troubling her.  


“Avery, talking about it is the first step to moving forward. Holding on to dark thoughts will not bring you light. It is clear that Rey and Poe love and care about you, but it is important that you love and care about yourself. Blaming yourself for what happened is nonsense. There was nothing more that you could have done to prevent what happened. You survived, that’s what is important. As for your parents, they wouldn’t be mad at you for getting close to Poe and Rey. They would want you to be happy and safe in the loving arms of two people, which you are. You aren’t forgetting about their existence by accepting Rey and Poe, you are honoring it.” Luke professed.  


Avery looked at him with swollen, red eyes and knew he was right. She had to stop blaming herself and start allowing herself to be happy.


	13. Chapter 13

After “meditating” Rey, Luke, and Avery walked over to the training center. It was a big open floor gym space with all kinds of stations meant for different kinds of training. They walked over to a station set up with different target dummies. Rey lifted up a plastic staff and handed it to Avery. Luke and Rey proceeded to teach her the correct way to hold the staff and what stances to take in order for maximum impact. They were quite proud of how quickly Avery picked it up, with having no prior training.  


She had to admit that it felt good to take out some of her angst and frustration on a dummy target. After about an hour she started to feel drained. It had been a pretty emotional and physical day and it was only lunchtime. Avery sat on the floor and watched Luke and Rey spar a couple rounds with staffs. Avery hadn’t ever seen Rey fight like she was now, and she was incredible. Avery couldn’t imagine what Rey was like actually lightsaber dueling with an enemy.  


After a little while, the three of them were sweaty and ready to eat something. Avery suddenly realized that she had to face Poe after what happened this morning. She hoped he would forgive her or maybe drop the subject entirely and pretend like it never happened. They walked to the canteen and were met with a ton of people there eating lunch. Avery hadn’t been around this many people yet and it freaked her out. She stayed close to Rey as they walked down the aisle towards the food line. She couldn’t tell if people were staring at her or the fact that Luke Skywalker was walking with them.  


They got to the lunch line and Avery couldn’t decide what to eat, everything looked so good. She decided on chicken and rice, something easy on her stomach. As much as she wanted to eat everything, she wanted to take it slow. This food was much different than her portions on Jakku. They walked out of line and went to find a seat. They stumbled on a table half full with people, including the General, Finn…….and Poe. Avery tried not to make eye contact with Poe who of course, was sitting right across from her. She sat between Finn and Rey with Luke sitting on Rey’s other side.  


Finn introduced Avery to two other people at the table whom she hadn’t met yet, Snap and Jessica. They seemed friendly enough but Avery wasn’t exactly up for talking with everyone. The situation in general was beginning to get a little overwhelming. There were so many people and so many conversations happening that it became deafening. She lost her appetite completely and just wanted to leave and go back to her room. She looked up from her food to see Poe staring at her with a worried look on his face.  


“Rey can I go back to my room now, I….want to get a shower and change after this morning?” Avery asked.  


“Um, sure honey do you want me to come with you?”  


“No that’s okay.” Avery answered quickly.  


“Rey, I’ll go with her.” Poe said as he moved to get up.  


_Just my luck _.__  


Avery swiftly moved to return her tray and head towards her room. She heard footsteps behind her and knew Poe was running to catch up with her. _Please don’t talk to me _.__  


“Avery, wait, Avery!” Poe yelled as he caught up to her.  


“What?” Avery retorted as she spun around.  


“What’s going on with you? You’ve been avoiding me since this morning, did I do something that made you uncomfortable? Because if I did I am so sorry.”  


“I’m mortified Poe! I didn’t mean to put you in an awkward position this morning.”  


“What are you talking about, what awkward position?” _He’s really going to make me say it isn’t he _.__  


“I called you dad, remember!” Avery shrieked, pretty sure half the base could hear her.  


Poe stayed quiet for what felt like forever until he reached forward and pulled Avery in for a hug. She was beyond confused and didn’t know how to react.  


“Avery, it’s okay that you called me dad. Whether you meant to or not, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with. If you want to call me Poe for the rest of our lives you can, if you want to call me dad, that’s okay too. Either way, you didn’t put me in an awkward position this morning. I was about to give you a hug goodbye and tell you that I loved you before you ran out of the room.” Poe explained sensitively.  


Avery felt horrible, she seemed to be making all the wrong choices and mistake after mistake. She couldn’t believe that Poe and Rey had stuck around for as long as they had. She felt like she was waiting for the one screw up that would make them want to leave her.  


“Oh…” was all she could manage.  


They continued to walk along the corridors towards their rooms.  


“So, Rey will be leaving on her scouting mission tomorrow, I asked the General if I could stay here with you while she is gone.”  


“I thought you were supposed to go with her?”  


“I was, but we’ve only been on the base a couple days and I felt guilty about leaving you here alone.”  


Avery had to admit she felt relief. As much as she liked Finn, Leia, and Luke, she felt nervous about Poe and Rey being gone. She was happy Poe was able to stay back with her.  


“How long will Rey be gone?”  


“Two days, three at the most. Like I said, it’s just a scouting mission, nothing too dangerous or intense.”  


They reached Avery’s room and Poe turned to face her.  


“Why did you want to come back to your room, was it just to get away from me?”  


“Haha, no! Truth be told, I was starting to get overwhelmed in there with all those people, I just needed some space.”  


“Well, how about we head back down to the lake, continue our swimming lessons?”  


“Sure!” Avery answered excitedly.  


___________________________________________________________________  


Once at the lake, Avery jumped into the water with Poe. They spent some time wading around and then Poe had her float on her back again.  


“Alright, now I want you to hold your breath when you’re underwater.”  


Avery closed her eyes and plugged her nose as she dipped underneath the water, coming up a few feet away.  


“You did it! I’m so proud of you.” Poe roared with excitement.  


Avery was pretty proud of herself to be honest, she felt like she was actually making progress in something.  


They climbed out of the water once Poe noticed the sun was starting to set.  


“Rey might be getting worried, we should head back to base.” Poe said as he pulled his shirt over his head.  


“Thanks for taking me out here again, I think this might be my favorite place on D’Qar.” Avery sighed.  


“You should see my home planet, Yavin. There are lakes and forests everywhere, twice the size of this.”  


“I’d love to see it one day, do you think I could?”  


“Of course sweetheart. You, me, and Rey should go visit soon.” Poe smiled as he thought about showing Avery where he grew up. She would really like it.  


They walked back on base and went straight to Poe and Rey’s room. Inside, Finn and Rey were going over finalized flight plans for the morning.  


“There you two are, I thought I was going to have to send out a search party.”  


“I was just continuing Avery’s swimming lessons at the lake.” Poe said as he grabbed some dry clothes out of his drawer.  


“How fun! Did Poe tell you that he’s going to be staying here with you while I’m out on the mission?” Rey asked Avery.  


She nodded and went over to Rey as she scooted her chair out a little so Avery could sit on her lap.  


“Make sure he feeds you okay babygirl?” Rey spoke softly.  


Avery laughed as Poe made a sly comment towards Rey.  


“While I’m gone if you have any problems or just need someone to talk to I want you to go to either, Poe, Finn, Luke, or Leia okay? Promise me you’ll get help if you need it.” Rey said kindly.  


“I promise.” Avery murmured.  


“We’ll have fun, won’t we peanut?” Finn asked cheerily. That man never stopped smiling.  


Avery nodded and stood up to go back to her room. She wanted to try and sleep by herself tonight since Rey would be leaving and she wouldn’t be there to comfort her if she had a nightmare.  


“Night Rey.” Avery said as she hugged her.  


“Goodnight baby, Poe will stop over when he’s out of the shower.” Rey said giving her a kiss on the cheek.  


Avery walked back to her room which she hadn’t really spent much time in since she got to the base. It felt cold and sterile unlike Poe and Rey’s room, which felt lived in. She climbed into bed and grabbed her doll, hugging it close to her chest. Since she had been sleeping in Poe and Rey’s bed, she didn’t need the doll to feel safe and comforted. Something told her she would be needing it tonight.  


Avery heard a knock at the door a few minutes later. She assumed it was Poe and told him to come in. He walked over to the bed and made a motion for her to scoot over. He layed on top of the covers, facing her.  


“Are you going to be okay with Rey gone?” Poe asked gently.  


“Ya, why wouldn’t I be, I mean I can’t control her leaving so I can’t be upset over it.”  


“I just mean…would you rather I went and she stay here with you?”  


“Oh, well, no.” Avery offered unconvincingly.  


“It’s alright, I know you can relate to her more and are more comfortable around her, you always have been.” Poe tried to smile but failed miserably.  


“That might be true, but I love you the same amount that I love her. Rey wasn’t the only one that rescued me from Jakku.”  


Poe smiled for real this time and put his arm around Avery until she fell asleep. He quietly made his way out of her room and went back to his to spend his last night with Rey for a while.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for 1000+ reads! I never thought people would even enjoy this story so it means so much that you guys keep coming back for more chapters!

Avery had been woken up by nightmares for most of the night. However, these were different from her usual nightmares. She didn’t dream about her assault, but instead of something happening to Rey while she was out on her mission. Needless to say, it freaked Avery out to no end so she didn’t get much sleep. She got out of bed once the sun rose and got dressed. She heard a knock at the door and Rey walked in greeting her with a smile.  


They were all going to go to breakfast together before everyone left. Apparently the people who had been out flying reconnaissance missions all week were coming back today and then the next squadron would be heading out.  


Finn, Poe, Rey, Avery, Leia, and a few others ate breakfast together while swapping stories and going over details. Poe mentioned to Avery that his droid BB-8 would be returning today as he had been on one of the x-wings that were sent out. The droid sounded adorable and Avery couldn’t wait to meet it.  


Once breakfast was done, people started making their way towards the hanger bays. Avery walked holding Rey’s hand and slowly started getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. _I don’t want Rey to leave _. She couldn’t shake her dreams she had had last night, even though she knew they weren’t real.__  


As they got to the hanger bay, Avery noticed the past squadron had returned and were disembarking from their ships. She heard a loud beeping noise and noticed a little orange and white droid whizzing over to Poe. He knelt down and began having a conversation with it, one Avery didn’t understand.  


“BB-8, meet Avery, we brought her back from Jakku and she’s going to stay with us now.” Poe said pointing to Avery.  


BB-8 whirred happily, causing Avery to laugh. She was excited to spend some time with this quirky little droid.  


“Make sure you take care of Avery when I’m gone okay BB?” Rey said as she pat his head.  


Rey walked over to Avery and wrapped her arms around her. _Don’t cry in front of everyone _. She held her for a while until she heard sniffling. Rey looked down to see tears in Avery’s eyes.__  


“Hey, I’ll be back soon, you’re going to have so much fun with Finn and Poe that you’ll forget I’m even gone.” Rey said as she wiped the tears from Avery’s cheeks.  


Rey finally let go of her and head over towards Poe. Avery looked behind her and saw Finn, who put his arm around her shoulder. Avery saw Poe and Rey exchange some words and gave each other a kiss goodbye. She hadn’t really ever seen Poe and Rey be very affectionate towards each other. They felt awkward with PDA around people and especially Avery. Seeing them like this almost made Avery sadder, it was so final.  


Rey pulled away and walked back over to say goodbye to Finn and give him one last hug. Finally, after giving Avery one more kiss on the forehead, she boarded Poe’s black squadron X-Wing.  


Avery buried her face in Poe’s shirt so the others wouldn’t see her cry. He just held her until the ships had all left. They waved goodbye and that was it.  


“Hey Avery, we should go see if the canteen has put out desserts yet.” Finn suggested.  


“We just ate breakfast and you want dessert?” Poe wondered.  


“Uh yeah!” Finn grabbed Avery’s hand and led her to the canteen.  


Finn figured that ice cream and cake could solve any problem in the world and it would definitely make Avery cheer up.  


By the time Poe got to the canteen he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Finn and Avery surrounded by mountains of food. There were ice cream floats and sundaes and cakes, cookies, plus left over pancakes from breakfast.  


“Rey’s gone for thirty minutes and you’re already going to make Avery sick.” Poe sat as he sat down next to them.  


“Nuh uh, we’ll be fine!” Finn insisted with a mouth full of food.  


Avery was nursing her ice cream sundae looking depressed. He didn’t think she would be this upset with Rey leaving, it was only for a couple days.  


“Sweetheart, why don’t we go to the gym after this, we can do some blaster and combat training.” Poe enticed.  


Avery immediately lit up, “Really? Rey said I was too young for blaster training, that I could only use a staff.”  


“Well Rey’s not here, and what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Poe winked.  


____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Poe showed Avery how to properly hold the blaster and how to use it safely. The three of them were in the gym for hours trying out new techniques and target practices. It seemed to take Avery’s mind off of the day’s events. They left the gym and went their separate ways. Finn promised after he showered that he would stop by and play some dajarak with Avery.  


Avery washed up and went over to Poe’s room. Finn was already there setting up the game while Poe was on the floor in front of BB-8 fixing something. The night went along but Avery felt herself getting more and more anxious by the minute. She didn’t want to have her nightmares again but she didn’t want to ask Poe if she could stay with him. _That would be weird _.__  


Finn left after he beat Avery twice and Poe was still working on fixing a wiring problem with BB. She sat on the floor and watched him work trying to delay her going back to her room for as long as she could. Poe kept looking over at her wondering what was going through her head. She looked exhausted but wasn’t making a move to go back to her room. He knew she was too nervous to ask if she could stay with him but if he asked she would probably decline out of embarrassment.  


“Do you want to watch a holovid while I finish up?” Poe asked sneakily. He figured she would fall asleep within minutes after lying in bed watching a video.  


“I’m pretty tired, I’d probably just fall asleep before it ended.” Avery refused trying to offer Poe an out, secretly hoping he would offer again.  


“That’s okay, if you do I’ll just take you over to your room.” He insisted.  


Avery finally gave up and hopped onto the bed with a holodisk in her lap. Poe looked over a couple minutes later and she was out. He stood up and covered her with a blanket while taking a few for himself along with a pillow, and made a makeshift bed on the floor. He figured she would be more comfortable if she had the bed to herself.  


It was only hours later that Avery awoke with a startle. She thought she had heard crying or whimpering but figured she had just woken herself up from a nightmare, even though she didn’t remember having one. Looking around she realized she was still in Poe and Rey’s room. She turned around in bed to fall back asleep when she heard the whimpering again.  


Avery sat up and looked over the edge of the bed to see Poe on the floor. He was sweating and shaking while crying. She realized the noises had been coming from him and jumped off the bed. She knelt down next to him, trying to decide if she should wake him or not. It was obvious he was having a nightmare but she didn’t know how to handle it.  


“Poe.” Avery said softly as she shook his shoulders.  


He began to stir but was still in his dream state.  


“Poe!” Avery yelled as he jerked awake breathing heavily.  


“W-What happened, are you okay?” He asked automatically thinking something was wrong with Avery.  


“I’m fine, b-but you were having a bad dream so I woke you, I’m sorry.” Avery said shyly.  


“Oh, no I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Poe asked in a gravelly voice.  


“Not really…are you okay?”  


“Yeah, I’m fine, just go back to bed honey.”  


Avery crept back into bed, unsure of what to do. Poe turned back over facing away from her and pretended to fall back asleep, but she could swear she saw his shoulders shaking. She got out of bed again and sat next to Poe. As soon as he noticed her, he wiped his eyes. Avery put her head down on his shoulder.  


“Was it about your capture?”  


Poe stayed quiet until he nodded his head.  


“I haven’t had a nightmare about that in a long time. I guess it’s because Rey is gone. We haven’t really been apart in a while, even on missions we are always together. She usually wards off the bad dreams.” Poe chuckled as he turned around to lay flat on his back.  


When he turned over Avery could see the tear stains on his face and how red his eyes were. She reached for his hand and held it softly while rubbing her thumb over his. Her dad used to do that and it always brought her peace. Poe closed his eyes at the feeling and Avery saw his breathing steady.  


“Thank you sweetheart.”  


Avery laid down next to him and fell back asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to make this 20 chapters, then at some point in the near future I will do a sequel to it, though it probably won't be as long as this one. I have some ideas of another fanfiction I want to do before the sequel, so would you guys rather see one based where Poe is a single dad, or Rey is a single mom?

Avery woke up in the morning just as the sun rose, extremely sore. She chalked it up to sleeping on the floor for most of the night but couldn’t believe how much her back hurt. She wanted to go out and meditate with Luke again, hoping it would be a more positive experience than a couple days ago. Avery debated whether or not to wake Poe and let him know that she was leaving, he had such a rough night. In the end she figured he would be horrified if he woke up and couldn’t find her.  


“Poe” Avery whispered as she shook his shoulder.  


Poe stirred a little while groaning at the early hour.  


“I’m going to meditate with Luke, don’t wait for me okay?”  


“Do you need me to come with you?” Poe asked groggily, still not fully awake.  


“No that’s okay.” Avery pressed a kiss to his forehead, stood up, and head out the door.  


She walked to the same spot Rey had brought her to, to see Luke sitting on top of the hill. He turned his head, obviously having sensed her presence, and flashed her a grin.  


“Sit.” Luke said calmly.  


Avery sat next to him and closed her eyes, trying to take in the nature that surrounded her. She could see why Rey enjoyed this so much, everything was so peaceful. She listened to the sound of the trees, the lake, and the creatures that roamed the planet. Even though she felt at peace, she couldn’t get over how much her body ached. She hoped she wasn’t getting sick, especially with Rey gone.  


Luke broke the silence after a few minutes and turned to face Avery.  


“You seem to be in conflict.” He observed.  


“I just don’t feel that great today, probably because I spent the night on the floor.” Avery replied.  


“Why did you spend the night on the floor?”  


“Well…I slept in Poe and Rey’s room and Poe slept on the floor. Then in the middle of the night, he had a nightmare so then…I ended up on the floor.” Avery replied shyly.  


“Ah. Poe used to come to me quite frequently because of his PTSD from Kylo Ren. I thought it had gotten better. Tell him he’s always welcome to come see me whenever he wants.” Luke offered.  


“I will.” Avery was starting to really like Luke. He seemed to care about the people around him and she felt comfortable talking to him, knowing he wouldn’t judge her for what she had to say.  


“How have you been coping with everything? You’ve been through a lot, more than most at your age.”  


“I’m okay.” Avery muttered unconvincingly.  


Luke gave her a knowing look and raised eyebrow.  


“I mean, I guess I still have nightmares and flashbacks sometimes…well, most times. But I have Rey and Poe to help me and they have stuck around longer than anyone has.”  


“What do you have nightmares about?”  


Avery hesitated divulging something so personal, to him. She had really only told Rey and Poe about the horrors that plagued her and it took her a while to talk to them.  


“I have nightmares about my parents dying, about losing Rey and Poe…and other things.” Avery looked towards the ground, unable to meet his eye line.  


“Avery, it’s alright, I want to help you work through this, but in order for me to do that I need you to trust me.”  


_Trust him? _  
__

“I have nightmares about _that _night. The one where I feel like my life was stolen away from me, where my happiness officially ended. I can’t shake the feeling of them…on me. I wake up from my nightmares wanting to take a shower. I am always wary around new people, especially men. It took me so long to trust Poe and I hate myself for it.” Avery felt the tears prickle behind her eyes again.__

_Dammit _.__  


“I can’t imagine what you went through that night and it breaks my heart to think about it. You never should have been violated like that. The key is to take it one day at a time. You have to give yourself some credit, you have made so much progress in such a short amount of time.”  


A few tears began to fall down Avery’s cheeks, “I miss Rey.”  


“I know, but she’ll be back soon.”  


“I had a dream that she got hurt on her mission, what do you think that means.” Avery asked the Jedi hoping to find a secret meaning.  


“I think, it means that you care very much about her, and you’re worried that something will cause her to be taken away from you. Much like your parents who were taken from you.”  


Avery knew he was right, she couldn’t bear to think about something happening to Poe and Rey. She didn’t think she could handle another tragedy in her life.  


“Thanks Master Luke, I think I’m going to go find Poe now.” Avery said as she stood up.  


“Come see me again alright?” Luke eyed her.  


“Okay.” She said nodding.  


______________________________________________________

Avery returned to the base and knocked on Poe’s door. He opened and moved aside to let her in.  


“How was meditation this morning?” Poe asked.  


“It was nice, I think I’m going to go again tomorrow morning.”  


“I’m glad you found something you enjoy.”  


“Oh, and Luke said the offer still stands that you can go see him whenever you want.” Avery admitted with a slight blush on her face. Poe knew she had talked about him. _I hope he isn’t mad. _  
__

Poe just looked at the floor and nodded his head, staying silent. He walked over to BB-8 in the corner and knelt down in front of him.  


“After I finish this repair why don’t we go find Finn and grab something to eat?”  


“Sure.” Avery responded as she grabbed her abdomen. _Why am I in so much pain? _  
__

“Everything okay?” Poe looked over with worry written on his face.  


“Yeah, I think I’m just a little sore from sleeping on the floor.” Avery sunk down on the floor in front of the bed holding her stomach.  


Poe stopped what he was doing and went over to sit next to her.  


“What hurts?”  


“Everything; my back, my stomach, my legs.” Avery groaned.  


“That doesn’t sound like it’s from sleeping on the floor, do you feel sick?” Poe asked as he felt her forehead.  


“No.” Avery laid her head down on Poe’s lap.  


He started to rub her back, much to Avery’s relief.  


“Why don’t I take you down to medical?”  


“No!” Avery shouted as she shot her head up. “I’ll be fine, I don’t need to see a doctor.”  


“Okay…do you want to go eat something?”  


“Yes please.” Avery sighed, glad the subject had been dropped.  


She stood up with the help of Poe and tried to put the discomfort out of her mind. They walked over to Finn’s door and knocked. Not a second later, he walked out of his room and instantly noticed something was wrong with Avery.  


“What’s wrong?”  


“Nothing’s wrong.” Avery lied.  


“She’s not feeling too great today, that’s all.” Poe answered for her.  


“Maybe some food will help.” Finn said.  


____________________________________________________

After eating, Avery didn’t feel any better, in fact, she felt worse. Her abdomen was in knots and her back was killing her.  


Finn and Poe were still eating and all Avery wanted to do was go back to her room and sleep. She laid her head down on the table crossing her arms underneath. Poe looked on with worry and tried rubbing her back again.  


“I really think we should go over to medical, honey.” Poe tried gently.  


“I don’t want to, please Poe. I’ll be fine, I just want to go lay down.” Avery whimpered.  


“Okay sweetheart, let’s go.” Poe stood up and held onto her arm while Finn grabbed her hand.  


They made it back to Poe’s room and Avery practically leapt onto the bed. Finn grabbed a holovid and laid down next to her.  


“Hey Finn, can you watch her for a few minutes, I’ll be right back.”  


“Sure.” Finn was already absorbed into whatever movie they were watching.  


Poe was really starting to get worried about Avery so he went to find Leia and ask her what he should do. Rey had given him the comlink number to contact her for emergencies, but he didn’t want to bug her for this. He wanted to prove to Rey that he could handle taking care of Avery by himself.  


Poe walked to the General’s office and knocked on the door.  


“Come in.” He heard her shout.  


“Poe, what can I help you with?” Leia asked.  


“It’s Avery, she’s been acting really strange since she woke up and she’s in a lot of pain, but doesn’t want to see Kalonia.”  


“Alright, why don’t I pop over and see what’s wrong. She might be getting the flu that’s going around the base.”  


Poe didn’t like the sound of that. He was glad that someone who had had a child was going to check on Avery.  


They got back to Poe’s room in no time and walked in to see her asleep on Finn’s shoulder. Leia walked over to the bed as Finn waved to her.  


“I tried to keep her awake, but she looked so exhausted.” Finn said.  


Leia looked at Poe and gave him a smirk, “come find me if she wakes up still feeling bad or gets any worse.” Leia pat him on the shoulder and walked back out the door.  


Poe decided to take Avery over to her room to let her sleep. Finn got off the bed to head over to the hanger bay to finish up some work. Poe lifted Avery in his arms and carried her to her room. BB-8 followed closely behind beeping concernedly.  


Once Poe laid her in bed, he knelt down to BB, “I want you to stay in here with Avery okay, and if she needs me or she gets sick I want you to come get me.”  


BB-8 beeped acknowledging what he said and rolled over to sit in the corner of her room.  


Poe turned off Avery’s light and hoped she felt better when she woke up. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

It was after dinner time and Poe couldn’t believe that Avery was still asleep. It had been a couple hours and he was starting to get a little worried about her. He guessed that since BB-8 hadn’t come to get him, Avery was alright. He decided to try and get some sleep himself, last night had not equaled a great night of sleep, so hopefully tonight would be better.


	16. Chapter 16

Avery woke up suddenly in the early morning. As she opened her eyes and saw the sun beginning to shine through her window, she realized how long she had been asleep. Avery couldn’t remember a night where she hadn’t woken up at least once for one reason or another. She was grateful she had been asleep for as long as she had because she felt the pain return far worse than yesterday. _What is going on?_

She was beginning to think she might actually have to go to the medical building and get checked out. She heard of people dying on Jakku because of an infection in one of their organs. Avery looked over to see BB-8 in low power mode in the corner. She decided she would have him get Poe to come over and take her to medical.

Avery sat up and flung the covers off of her, then stared down in disbelief.

_Oh no._

Her pants were soaked with blood as well as her sheets.

_This can’t be happening._

She froze, not sure of what to do. Avery dreaded the day this happened as soon as she had been told about it by one of the widow scavengers on Jakku, quite brashly she should add. She heard some scavengers never got it because of the lack of proper nourishment, but she wasn’t on Jakku anymore. Avery had been eating three square meals a day for a while now. She should have guessed it was only a matter of time. Only now that she got it, she didn’t know what to do.

Avery felt the panic begin to rise in her as she realized Rey wasn’t here. She wasn’t going to be back until tomorrow. _I can’t go to Poe!_ Now she felt the tears spring to her eyes out of future embarrassment. There was no way she could tell Poe about this. Avery looked down and realized she had no way of cleaning her pants or sheets, and no way of stopping the blood.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she ran into the fresher that she couldn’t be more grateful for having in this moment. With the slam of the door, BB-8 sprung to life and rolled over to the fresher door. As soon as he heard Avery crying, BB went to find Poe.

Poe sprung awake when he heard his door slide open. BB-8 came racing in beeping about Avery crying. Poe jumped out of bed and went next door. He knocked on her door but BB told him she locked herself in the fresher. Poe’s mind went to the worst possible scenario; something was wrong with Avery and she would need medical attention right away. Poe commanded BB-8 to open her door, which he did, and Poe ran inside. As soon as he heard her sobbing he walked over towards the fresher door.

“Avery honey, it’s Poe, can you open the door please.” He said as he jiggled the door knob.

Avery lifted her head off of her knees which she hugged to her chest. She had been sitting on the bathroom floor for a while and couldn’t believe BB-8 had gone to get Poe. _This is such a nightmare._

Then, she remembered her bloody sheets were still on her bed for the world to see. Avery covered her eyes and cried harder.

“Sweetheart, tell me what’s wrong, are you hurt? Do you need me to get Dr. Kalonia?” Poe asked frantically, about to break the door down.

“No, I’m fine, please just go away.” Avery sniffled.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Poe wondered confused at her outburst.

“No, please just leave me alone!” Avery snapped.

“I’ll leave you alone if you just tell me what happened.” Poe negotiated as he started to pace around her room.

“I can’t tell you.” Avery wept.

“Avery you can tell me anything, I promise.” He was met with silence.

As Poe walked around her room, something on the bed caught his eye. The minute Poe saw her stained sheets, he started to piece it together; the pain she had been in, now locking herself in the fresher crying. His heart broke for the young girl and wished he knew how to make her feel better.

Poe walked back over to the bathroom door and sat in front of it.

“Sweetie, please come out and talk to me, it’ll be okay.” Poe listened for a response but still didn’t get one.

He knew Avery well enough by now to know that she had emotionally shut down and therefore, wanted nothing to do with him. Poe debated on whether going to get Leia or not, but knew that Avery would be mortified if he did so. Sure he had dealt with this kind of thing before with Rey, but with her it was just more making sure she felt pampered and cared for. Poe had no idea how to deal with Avery getting it for the first time. Poe only knew of one thing to do…call Rey.

Poe walked back over to his room with BB-8, not wanting Avery to hear his conversation. He gave BB the comlink number and heard it dial. Within seconds, a hologram of Rey popped up in front of him.

“What happened?” Rey asked in a panicked tone.

“Nothing too bad I promise, I just need your advice on something.” Poe began, feeling a little flushed.

“Okay…?” Rey had a confused look on her face, this number was only supposed to be used during emergencies, which to Poe, this definitely was.

“Um, I think Avery got her period.” Poe was definitely blushing now.

Rey’s face immediately dropped, “I’m coming home.”

Before Poe had a chance to tell her that wasn’t necessary, she hung up.  
He sighed and shook his head at BB. Poe didn’t know how long it would take for Rey to get home, but he had to admit, he was happy she was. Not just to take care of Avery, but because he missed her.

Poe walked back over to Avery’s room and sat down again in front of the fresher door.

“Avery, do you need me to get you anything?” Poe tried one last time.

_Does he know?_

Avery just wished he would leave her alone. She wanted nothing more than Rey to be here and tell her it was going to be okay. She was sitting on a towel on her bathroom floor clutching her stomach in agony. She heard her door close again and figured Poe must have left. She leaned back against the tub and let the tears fall down her face.

* * *

 

Only about an hour later, Poe got a holo from Rey saying she was five minutes out. She must have gone at light speed to get back to the base so quickly. He walked over to meet her at the hanger bay. Once he got there he saw her x-wing land and her beautiful self, climbing out of the cockpit.

Poe felt a smile stretch on his face as he wrapped his arms around Rey. How did he get so lucky? Rey held him tight and planted kisses all over his face. Poe finally caught her lips and was filled with happiness. Rey finally pulled away with a concerned look on her face.

“Where is she?”

“She locked herself in the fresher attached to her room.”

Poe and Rey made their way to Avery’s room and Rey went in by herself. Poe had some ideas as to cheer Avery up, so he parted with Rey for now. He also wanted to give them some space.

Avery heard a knock on the fresher door and was about to yell at Poe to go away again, when she heard a voice that most certainly didn’t belong to him.

“Baby girl, it’s Rey, Poe told me what happened so I came home early, can I come in?”

 _He does know._ But honestly, Avery couldn’t care less right now because he had called Rey for her, and for that, she couldn’t be more grateful. She leaned up and unlocked the door, moving herself back over against the tub.

Rey walked in to see Avery’s stained pants and underwear in a heap on the floor. She was leaning against the bathtub, wearing Poe’s shirt trying to pull it down over her naked legs. She had a tear stained face and her eyes were puffy, she must have been crying for a while. Rey hated that she hadn’t been here for Avery when she most needed her.

“Momma” Avery hiccupped as she shrunk into herself, crying.

Rey’s heart dropped and immediately sat down next to Avery and pulled her into her arms.

“Shhh” Rey hushed as she rubbed Avery’s back trying to calm her down.

“You’ll be okay honey.” Rey tried.

Avery felt her face flush from embarrassment at the situation and couldn’t believe this happened to her in this way. She wondered what Poe was thinking and how she was ever going to face him again.

Rey noticed the blood smeared on her thighs and stood up to wet a washcloth.

“Here baby, wash yourself off while I go grab you some supplies and throw your pants in the wash.”

“Uh-Um…I sorta got some on my sheets too…I’m sorry Rey.” Avery shied.

“Hey, don’t apologize, you can’t help it, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Rey said as she ran her hand soothingly across Avery’s cheek.

Rey left the bathroom for a minute and Avery cleaned herself up a bit, slowly feeling a little more normal.

Rey came back in with a new pair of sweatpants and underwear along with feminine supplies.

“Go ahead and change up while I strip your bed and put on new sheets for you.” Rey said with a comforting smile.

Avery put on her new change of clothes and walked out of the fresher for the first time in hours. She felt so sore and everything ached. Rey was still in the middle of changing her sheets when she looked over to Avery.

“Why don’t you go lay on our bed in the other room?” Rey suggested.

Avery was excited at the prospect of lying down in a comfortable bed but prayed Poe wasn’t in the room when she walked in. Luckily, it was empty and Avery leapt onto the bed pulling a blanket over herself.

Within a few minutes, Rey walked into the room holding some things in her arms, which she set on the table as to not drop them.

“I brought you a heating pad for your cramps and back pain, as well as some medicine for the pain.” Rey explained as she turned the heating pad on and laid it over Avery’s abdomen.

The heat was an immediate relief from the excruciating pain. Rey handed her water and the pills for her to take.

“These will make you feel better sweetie. I also thought you might want this.” Rey said as she handed Avery her doll.

Avery scrunched into a fetal position, holding the heating pad to her stomach tightly, with her doll to her chest. Rey climbed up on the bed and held her close. Avery finally felt relaxed as she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

That is, until Poe walked in the door carrying something behind his back and made eye contact with her. She immediately felt her face flush and shrunk further down under the blanket. Poe walked over to the bed and shot her an assuring smile. Avery almost started crying again when he pulled out a beautiful bouquet of flowers from behind his back. There were white, pink, blue, and red flowers mixed with some greens.

“I got them by the lake. I saw them last time we were out there and thought they were really pretty, I also got you this.”

Poe pulled out a chocolate muffin and handed it to her.

“Rey said that chocolate usually made her feel better, so I hope it helps you.” Poe offered sweetly.

“Thank you,” Avery blushed as a cramp gripped her abdomen.

Poe grimaced and made his way onto Avery’s other side on the bed, so she was between him and Rey. He rubbed her lower back to soothe the pain and pressed kisses to her temple as she slowly started to fall asleep.

“I love you and how much you care for Avery.” Rey said turning her head to face Poe.

“I love you too.” Poe replied feeling warm and happy knowing she was by his side, unharmed, again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: Did everyone see the amazing picture Carrie Fisher graced us with on her twitter of Daisy and Oscar? It melted my heart and I'm still not over it.

Poe woke up in the early morning to find Avery had at some point climbed on top of Rey and was lying on her chest. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Rey looked with the sunlight shining on her with Avery asleep on her. Poe had thought once or twice about what the future would hold for him and Rey. He knew she was who he was supposed to end up with and that he eventually wanted to ask her to marry him. He had also thought about being a dad more than anything, and how he wanted Rey to be the woman to make him a father. That was of course, before Avery had entered their life and they would probably wait a while to start having children of their own.

But something about the way she looked as he turned to face her, with her hair spread out on the pillow, comforting a sleeping Avery, made Poe realize he wanted to solidify their relationship sooner rather than later. He figured, why wait? They weren’t getting any younger, well, at least he wasn’t. Before his thoughts escaped him too much, Rey began to stir next to him.

“Hey,” she murmured sweetly, force he loved her.

“Morning love,” he greeted her with an innocent kiss on the lips.

Avery began to awaken with all the movement as well, except she wasn’t exactly in as good a mood as Poe and Rey were. She groaned as she tried to stretch out but quickly returned to her fetal position on top of Rey.

“How are ya feeling honey?” Rey asked as she moved Avery’s hair out of her face.

“Not good, everything hurts.” She replied sadly and she snuggled into Rey more.

“What hurts baby?” Rey wanted to know so she could try to help her the best she could.

“You know…” Avery turned her head away from Poe so he couldn’t see the blush creeping up her face.

“Why don’t we try something I usually do with Rey when she has bad cramps?” Poe offered.

Rey looked at him confused, not sure where he was going with this.

“Do you trust me?” Poe questioned as he moved to sit up in bed more.

_Yes._

Avery nodded as he held his arms out for her to sit in his lap. She moved off of Rey and went over to him. Poe spread out his legs so Avery sat with her back against his stomach. He moved his hands to her hips as she leaned against him. As soon as his hands touched her bare skin, Avery tensed.

“Relax sweetie, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I know.” Avery assured quietly.

Poe began to rub both her abdomen and back with his hands placed on her hips. His thumbs hit a spot on her back that made all of her pain disappear, while his other fingers massaged her stomach. She melted against him and closed her eyes, feeling safe and comfortable. Poe was happy that he was able to provide her some relief. He didn’t know what it felt like but he hated to see Avery in as much pain as she had been.

“Why don’t I run a bath for you? That will help relax your muscles.” Rey said as she got off the bed.

Avery turned around in Poe’s lap and curled up against him. He found himself planting kisses all over her face because he loved the sound of her giggling. He was never happier than being with his two girls.

“What would you like me to bring you for breakfast Avery?”

“Chocolate pancakes sound pretty amazing right now.” Avery admitted.

“Chocolate pancakes coming up, Rey what do you want for breakfast?” Poe shouted into the fresher.

“Whatever is fine.” He could never get a straight answer out of Rey, but that was something he loved about her, it wasn’t difficult to surprise her.

Avery got up and went into the fresher with Rey while Poe left for the canteen to grab some breakfast for the three of them.

Avery was surprised to see Rey had filled the bathtub with bubbles. She had never had a bubble bath before but always wanted to. Rey turned around while Avery undressed and got in the bathtub. The warm water felt incredible on her sore muscles. Rey stayed with her to keep her company, leaning against the cabinet while sitting on the floor. She told Avery all about her mission and flying the Falcon, which Avery found utterly fascinating. She decided when she got older, she wanted Rey and Poe to teach her how to fly.

They heard Poe come back into the room so Rey handed Avery a towel and left while she got dressed. _Sweatpants and Poe’s shirt seem like a suitable outfit for today’s circumstances._ Avery walked out of the fresher to the smell of chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. She sat down at the table next to Rey and across from Poe. Rey handed her a couple pills and a glass of juice to help manage her pain.

As they sat and ate, Poe was filled with happiness. He had been waiting for the right moment to ask Rey to marry him, and this morning he thought about waiting a few more months to do so, but as he watched her interact with Avery, laughing about some inside joke, he realized there was no better time than now. He got up and walked over to his dresser where he kept his mother’s wedding ring that his dad gave to him for “someone special”.

Poe walked back over to the table and looked at Rey one last time as just his girlfriend (he hoped). Her hair was up in a ponytail that she only wore in the morning, and she was wearing her trademark leggings and tan tank top. She had a smudge of chocolate on the corner of her mouth and if Avery hadn’t been right there he would have licked it off of her. Instead, he took his thumb and rubbed it off, causing Rey to look at him.

“Rey,” he began, taking Rey’s hand in his.

She gave him a funny look, wondering what was going on that he was looking at her like that.

“We’ve been together for two and a half years now, and I have loved every second of it. I don’t know what I did before you entered my life but I know it was a much less happy time. I know you are self-conscious about the age difference and worried that you were too young to be in a serious relationship, but I know that you are the woman I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I also want you to be the woman to make me a father and spend the rest of our lives raising Avery and our children together.” Poe felt the tears behind his eyes and noticed Rey wiping hers.

“Rey, will you marry me?”

By now, Avery’s mouth had dropped open seemingly forgetting it was full of pancake, not processing what Poe had just said.

Rey held her hand to her mouth with tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. For a second, Poe thought maybe he made a mistake, maybe it was too soon. Before he started to panic, he heard Rey exclaim,

“Of course I will marry you! Poe, oh my force, I thought you would never ask!” Rey laughed.

She jumped up from her chair and straddled Poe’s lap kissing him on his soft lips. Poe sniffled and laughed as he held the ring out for Rey to see. It was beautiful; the center stone was a blue crystal with two white crystals on each side.

“It was my mother’s.” Poe spoke as he placed it on Rey’s left hand.

She squealed and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again as he wiped her tears with his hand. Rey motioned over to Avery, who had been silently crying what they hoped were tears of joy, to come and join them. Rey pulled her onto Poe’s lap as well and held her close.

“I-I’m so happy f-for you guys.” Avery blubbered.

Avery really was happy for them but she couldn’t shake the selfish thoughts that kept entering her mind. _Will Poe and Rey still want me after they get married? What happens when they have their own kids, they’ll probably forget about me and start fresh._

She wouldn’t blame them for any of that, she can see why they wouldn’t want her around anymore, _I mean, I’m not actually their kid, they just sort of got stuck with me._

“We should celebrate tonight!” Rey exclaimed.

“Yeah, we could all go to the cantina, why don’t I go tell Finn to announce to everyone we will be meeting there at let’s say…eight?” Rey agreed and Poe left to go find their friend.

“Do you feel well enough to come out with us tonight?” Rey asked looking at Avery.

“I can come with you guys?”

“Of course, you’re a part of this too, why wouldn’t you be invited?”

Avery remained silent, she didn’t want to be selfish and ruin Rey’s engagement with her problems. Instead, she hopped off Rey’s lap and turned to her before leaving the room, “I think I’m going to go meditate with Luke, I’ll meet up with you guys later.”

Rey glanced at her with a confused look on her face, “okay, I guess…I’ll see you then?”

Avery walked out the door leaving Rey to wonder what she had done to make Avery upset with her.

* * *

 

Avery walked to the spot she knew Luke would be, meditating. She felt so emotional about everything and hoped Luke could help. She reached the top of the hill and sat next to him without either of them exchanging even a glance.

“Calm your feelings, child.”

“I can’t,” Avery barked.

“Talk to me, share what you are feeling, don’t lock it away and deal with it yourself, you don’t have to anymore.” Luke explained.

Avery realized she didn’t think she could tell Luke what was going on because it wasn’t her right to tell him Poe and Rey were engaged. She felt dumb for coming to him and got up to leave.

“Avery, it’s alright, I know about Poe and Rey.”

“You do?”

“I sensed their happiness this morning…and Finn has a big mouth.” Luke chuckled.

Avery felt herself smile at that, Finn did talk a lot, even when he wasn’t supposed to. She sat back down and felt herself relax a little.

“I mean, I’m happy for them, don’t get me wrong, it’s just, I feel like I won’t belong after they get married. They’ll start their own family and then where does that leave me? Their kids will ask who I am and I’ll just be this awkward outsider who won’t know how to answer them.” Avery spat out.

“Avery, you know that’s not true, Poe and Rey love you and you’ll always be a part of their family. You are your own worst enemy and I think you know that. Ideas come into your head that are unfounded and you let them spiral your emotions. I think you owe it to Poe and Rey to trust that they want you around and will always treat you as their daughter.” Luke raised his eyebrow at her knowingly.

Avery knew he was right but didn’t want to admit it. Instead, she got up and left Luke where he was sitting, not wanting to talk anymore. She thought it would help but it just made her more upset. She decided to go to the gym and train to let out some of her frustration. It worked pretty well until she heard the gym door open and looked over to see someone she didn’t really feel like talking to yet…Poe.

She rolled her eyes as she saw him walk up to her with his hands in his pockets and went back to beating up a dummy target with her staff. He waited until she was done with her set and then made a move to speak with her,

“Did we do something to upset you Avery?” Poe asked in a stern tone.

“No.” Avery looked toward the ground.

“So why is my fiancée sitting in our room on the day of our engagement feeling miserable?” Poe took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask her,” Avery added flippantly as she began to walk away from him.

“Hey!” Poe shouted across the gym in a tone that made Avery’s blood turn ice cold.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him once again.

“I don’t know what has gotten into you but I want you to apologize to Rey for making her upset and then I want you to explain to me what is going on with you. Is it because I didn’t talk to you about asking Rey to marry me beforehand? I didn’t know I was supposed to ask for your permission for that kind of thing.” Poe responded in a sarcastic tone.

_This is such a mess, I had kept my mouth shut so I wouldn’t upset Rey and Poe and now look where we are._

“Poe, it’s nothing, okay, it’s not a big deal. I just want to be by myself.” Avery tried.

“Well I expect to see you at the cantina tonight for our engagement party. I know Rey would be heartbroken if you didn’t show up.” Poe turned to leave the gym and slammed the door on the way out.

Avery trembled where she stood and felt the tears begin to fall down her cheeks. _What have I done?_


	18. Chapter 18

Avery had been sitting in her room for what felt like forever. She wasn’t even sure she had eaten lunch or dinner. She was tucked up on her bed holding her knees to her chest secretly hoping Rey or Poe would walk in to talk to her. She wanted to make things right with them, but Avery worried that she had ruined everything. _I can’t ever make the right choices._

Avery looked over at her clock and realized it was already 7:45. Rey and Poe would be so mad if she was late for their party. She hopped off the bed and went over to her wardrobe to find something appropriate to wear. As she opened the door, a beautiful hand knit dress was hanging in front of her. _Where did that come from?_

Avery pulled it out and went into the fresher to change. She looked in the mirror and for once, liked what she saw. The dress was a light gray color with stitching under the bust that added a piece of blue fabric as a sash to tie back into a bow. It had thick straps the laid comfortably on her shoulders and the fabric was as soft as a blanket. She actually felt pretty.

Although, she wished Rey and her could have had the type of day where they sat together in her room talking, while Rey did her hair and maybe would have allowed her to put on a little makeup. She realized this was probably what Rey had intended but instead Avery had messed everything up and spent the day alone.

So, she ran a brush through her hair and left it the way it was, grabbed her shoes and walked towards the cantina. It was all the way at the far end of the base kind of in a secluded area, and Avery had only ever passed by it, never having gone in.

Once she got to the cantina, she saw there were already tons of people inside celebrating. She hesitated going in and almost just stayed outside the door when she saw Finn just inside talking to Snap. She quickly walked over to him and said hi.

“Hey peanut, where have you been? Why didn’t you come here with Rey and Poe?” Finn asked.

“Oh, I was just…not feeling well so I waited until the last second, but I’m here now.” She explained unconvincingly.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, isn’t it fantastic about Rey and Poe! I knew it was only a matter of time before they tied the knot!” Finn cheered happily.

“Oh who called it? I’m pretty sure the first time we saw them hug after that one mission I leaned over to you and said it wouldn’t be long before they got hitched,” Snap quipped.

Before long Avery had tuned out to the banter that started going back and forth about who called what first, when she looked over towards the bar and saw Rey and Poe talking to someone. Rey’s eyes wandered and locked onto Avery’s. There was an awkward moment between the two until Rey gave a small smile and waved nervously.

Avery started to walk over anxiously as Rey started towards her. They met in the middle and Avery looked up to meet Rey’s eye line. She looked so beautiful; Rey wore a blue, knee length, strapless dress and her hair was down in curls. Avery noticed Rey’s blue dress sort of looked like the same material as the sash on her dress…

“I’m glad you found the dress in your closet, I got worried that maybe I should have put it somewhere you would definitely see it.”

“Wait, you made this?” Avery asked tugging at the bottom.

Rey nodded sweetly, “You look beautiful and so grown up.”

“Rey-” before she could speak, she was cut off by Finn shouting for Rey and Poe to come up to the front.

Rey looked down at Avery with a somber expression as Poe took her hand and dragged her up to Finn, not even acknowledging Avery’s presence. Finn started to make a toast to Rey and Poe as Avery looked on and saw how happy they were. They didn’t need her around to be happy, she had overstayed her welcome. Once the toast was over, Avery escaped from the cantina before she ran into Poe and Rey again.

She ended up at the hanger bay, which was dark and empty, a good place to be alone. She walked over to the Falcon and climbed up to sit on the top of it and stare out at the stars. She lost track of time until she heard some people walking around the hanger. She figured it was just the cleaning crews or droids until she heard the footsteps coming towards her.

Avery looked behind her to see Rey and Poe making their way up the Falcon to sit with her. She turned back around and continued hugging her knees. They finally made it up to her and Poe sat on her left with Rey to her right. _There’s no way I’m talking first, I can’t say anything right._

“Stargazing sweetheart?” Poe asked.

Avery felt her heart flutter but just shrugged her shoulders.

“We couldn’t find you at the party. We got worried so we decided to come look for you.” Rey explained.

“You didn’t have to leave, you guys looked like you were having fun.” Avery sighed.

“Not as much fun as if you were there.” Rey spoke lightly.

Avery wasn’t convinced. “What are you talking about? You guys hate me.”

“Avery, why would you think we hate you?” Poe was in shock.

“Well, Rey might not, but you do.”

“Just because I got mad this morning doesn’t mean I hate you. I was angry because Rey was upset, but I was even more upset because it seemed like there was something you weren’t telling us and I think Rey and I have earned you being honest with us.”

“What I have to say, you don’t want to hear, trust me.” Avery murmured.

“Try us.” Rey said as she began to run her hand through Avery’s long hair.

“Fine. I promise that I am really happy that you guys are engaged, I just have some insecurities that are up to me to get over.” Avery tried to be as cryptic as possible but the look on Rey’s face asked her to continue.

“You guys just looked so happy tonight without me around. You’ll be essentially starting over when you get married and I know you won’t want me around anymore. You guys will have your own kids and I’ll be the odd man out. It’s not fair to you that I stick around and attach myself to your new family, you and Poe were just being nice when you took me away from Jakku.”

“Avery when are you going to get it through your head that Poe and I love you like our own daughter? You are a part of this family whether you think so or not, sorry girl but you’re stuck with us.”  
Avery really wanted to believe her.

“When Rey and I decide to have children, they will only grow up knowing you as their sister. You won’t be some random girl that hangs around, you will be their big sister, and a very good big sister at that.” Poe added.

“Honey I know it’s tough to get close to people, trust me, I lived by myself on Jakku for most of my life. It’s easier to push people away than to risk losing them and being alone again. But I promise you, Poe and I are with you and we will always be by your side through thick and thin. The more you push us away, the harder we will fight to stay by you.” Rey soothed and she wrapped an arm around Avery’s waist.

Being close to Rey made her feel warm and cozy again. She had gone without the comfort of them all day and it wasn’t very pleasant. She knew she had to stop pushing Rey and Poe away just because she was too scared to lose them.

“I’m sorry about how I acted today, I’m really happy you guys are getting married.” Avery smiled.

“We know you are sweetheart.” Rey said as she held her.

“You know, since Rey and I are getting married, I think it’s only fair that my dad knows. I could just call him but I think it might be more fun to see his reaction in person. How would you like to go to Yavin with us Avery?” Poe asked.

“I would love to! Poe, oh my gosh, I’ve never been to Yavin!” Avery squealed excitedly.

“I know,” Poe laughed, “we’ll head out in a couple days, make sure Leia doesn’t need Rey or I for anything.”

“I hope your dad likes me.” Avery sighed.

“He’ll love you.” Poe said as he laid down on the ship admiring the stars above them.

“Kes will probably like you better than Poe and I combined, he always wanted to be a grandpa.” Rey added.

Rey and Avery joined Poe lying down next to each other listening to the sounds of the night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update is so late. I have been SO sick the past week and haven't had the brainpower to write anything. Anyway, there's one chapter left! I can't believe it. I will be taking my time with the final chapter so I'm not sure when it will be uploaded.

It was a few days later that Poe, Rey, and Avery were packed and ready to head to Yavin. Avery was beyond excited to see where Poe grew up and to meet his dad. They got up early in the morning to pack and put their bags on the Falcon. Avery hugged Finn, Leia, and Luke goodbye, and then got onboard.

“You ready Avery?” Poe asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

It took them a few hours traveling at light speed to finally reach Yavin. Avery went up to the cockpit and buckled in behind Poe and Rey, watching as the beautiful scenery came into view. There were forests that seemed to stretch for miles, along with lakes and rivers flowing through them. They soon came upon a clearing with a large fielded area and a small house sitting atop the hill. Poe and Rey landed the Falcon at the bottom near the edge of the woods. The three of them stepped off the ship and suddenly, Avery felt nervous. _What if Poe’s dad doesn’t like me?_

Avery instinctually reached for Poe and Rey’s hands to hold onto. They walked up the hill and as they neared the top, Avery noticed an older gentlemen sitting on the porch waiting for their arrival. Poe walked ahead of them and she watched as the two men embraced. Rey and Avery walked up the porch steps of the beautiful wooden structured home. Rey also let go of Avery’s hand to hug Poe’s dad. As the embrace ended, Kes noticed Rey’s hand and looked to his son with tears in his eyes. Poe nodded his head with a smile and once again he threw his arms around Rey.

“I always wanted a daughter, now I have one.” Kes dried his eyes as he noticed Avery hiding behind Poe.

“And this must be my granddaughter I have heard so much about!”

Avery’s heart warmed at hearing this and walked out from behind Poe to shake his father’s hand.

“I’m Avery, it’s nice to meet you.”

Kes looked up towards Poe, “sweet girl, this one is. You did good for yourself Poe.”

With a hand clasped to his son’s shoulder, the older man led them into his home. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. The living room had a stone fireplace and the walls were covered in old family photos of Poe as a child. Avery loved looking at the pictures of Poe with his mom sitting in her x-wing. Even at a young age she could tell by the look on his face, he was destined to be a pilot.

Kes led them into the kitchen where he had prepared dinner for them with vegetables from his garden. The food was delicious and Avery enjoyed listening to Kes and Poe reminisce about his childhood. The conversation then soon turned to Poe and Rey’s engagement and if they planned to get married anytime soon or would wait until things calmed down again. They admitted they hadn’t thought about it just yet but weren’t too concerned about having a big wedding. For them, their engagement was enough of an acknowledgment of their vow to spend their life together.

Avery was appreciative that Poe’s dad didn’t ask much about her past. She figured Poe had probably either already talked to him about it or told him not to bring it up. Instead, he seemed interested in getting to know who she was; what she liked to do, what her favorite food was, how she liked the resistance base. Avery thought it would be awkward spending time with Kes because she had such a hard time letting people in, but he was so kind and made her feel right at home, much like Poe actually.

“Why don’t I show you where you’ll be staying,” Kes stated as he stood up from the table.

He led them down the hallway where two bedrooms sat across from one another. The one on the left was a small spare bedroom where Rey and Poe placed their bags. The room across from it, where Avery would be staying, was Poe’s old bedroom. She could imagine a young Poe sitting in here playing with his toy ships and drawing blueprints of his future x-wing.

“Will this be alright Avery? You could have my room if this is too small.” Kes offered.

“Oh no, this is perfect, thank you.” Avery said as she put her stuff on the bed.

“I’ll let you all get settled, if you need anything, I’ll be down the hall at the other end of the house.” Kes said as he walked away.

Avery began to put her clothes in the closet and took her doll out of her bag and placed it on the bed. She walked over to the windowsill which had a seat underneath and looked out. The clouds had a dark shade of gray to them, different from when they had arrived. _Weird._

“Avery do you want to hop in the fresher first? You know how long Poe takes to do his hair,” Rey shouted from the other room.

“Sure.” Avery laughed.

After washing up she changed into Poe’s long shirt that had become her regular sleep outfit and a pair of sweatpants. She hopped into Poe’s old bed and pulled the covers around herself and squeezed her doll tight. Even though she was in a house full of people, it felt strangely lonely being in this room by herself. She had grown accustomed to sleeping in Poe and Rey’s bed every night. She hadn’t meant for it to turn into a habit, but it had. Avery knew it was silly for someone her age to sleep in her parent’s bed but she had spent so many years alone at night wishing for comfort, that now that she had it, she craved it.

Before her thoughts wandered much more, Rey walked into the room and lied on top of the covers next to her. Avery curled into the warmth of Rey’s arms and felt her anxiety diminish. She let out a heavy sigh and felt her eyes get heavy.

“How do you like Poe’s dad?” Rey asked.

“I really like him, I thought it would be weird and awkward meeting him but it wasn’t, he’s so nice and welcoming.”

“Yeah, I felt the same way when I met him for the first time. I thought he wouldn’t approve of the age difference between Poe and I but he’s never even mentioned it.”

“That’s really nice.” Avery yawned.

“I’ll let you get some sleep, I know Poe wants to show you around Yavin tomorrow.” With that, Rey made a move to climb out of bed.

“Wait, can you, um, stay with me for a while…until I fall asleep?” Avery asked shyly.

“Of course honey.” Rey got back into bed and held Avery close to her.

“Thanks mama.” Avery sighed as she closed her eyes and Rey placed a kiss to her forehead.

* * *

 

Avery woke up to a loud cracking sound that shook the house to its very core. She couldn’t figure out what had happened that there would be such a noise like that. Avery got up to look out the window and try to see what was going on. The shroud of darkness made it impossible to tell until the sky lit up with jagged light and another booming sound.

Avery shrieked and out of instinct for self-preservation, ran and hid in the closet, shutting the door tight. _We must be under attack or something, it has to be the First Order._ She covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes, waiting for whatever was happening to end. The room kept lighting up in flashes and it sounded like something was raining down from the sky.

In the other room Poe and Rey were curled up in each other’s arms listening to the rain fall outside their window and the thunder ring through the valley. They always loved thunderstorms, especially when they were snuggled together. Rey had fallen asleep and Poe was almost out too until he heard a shriek come from Avery’s room. Poe snapped awake and slowly got out of bed much to Rey’s dismay, as she groaned at the loss of warmth beside her.

“I’m just going to check on Avery.” Poe hushed.

He walked into her room expecting to see her in bed awake from a nightmare, instead she was nowhere to be seen. Poe was utterly confused and almost panicked until he heard whimpering coming from the closet. He strode over and opened the door to find Avery curled up in a ball on the floor, shaking and crying.

Poe knelt down in front of her and asked in a concerned tone, “Hey, Avery, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

Avery looked up, relieved to see Poe in front of her, “Poe! Don’t you hear that, we’re under attack!” she cried.

Just then, another loud boom shook the house, causing Avery to leap into Poe’s arms.

“Sweetheart, it’s just a thunderstorm, we’re not under attack.” Poe soothed as he ran his hand through her hair and sat against the bed with her on his lap.

“A what?”

“A thunderstorm, I guess you would have never had one on Jakku, but it’s just when a lot of rain falls from the sky that all the energy in the air causes thunder and lightning. That’s all the booming sounds you hear, it can’t hurt you, I promise.”

Avery began to feel pretty stupid, of course she was scared of something else that was completely normal, another reason for her to feel like an outsider.

“Rey had never experienced a storm either before she came to Yavin.” Poe offered, sensing Avery’s embarrassment.

Avery clung onto Poe and buried her face in the crook of his neck, trying to shield out the awful sounds coming from outside.

“Come on,” Poe huffed as he stood up and slung Avery onto his hip and carried her out of the room.

He walked them into the living room and over towards the sliding glass door leading to the backyard. Poe opened the curtains to let Avery see exactly what a thunderstorm was. The rain poured against the glass and lightening danced through the sky in brilliant colors. Avery held herself close to Poe and put her arms around his neck as she watched. Without realizing it, Poe had begun to rock Avery back and forth on his hip, causing her to find sleep again to the sounds of the rain. A few minutes passed until he looked down to find her asleep.

Poe smiled and walked back towards their room with Avery in tow. He went over to his side of the bed and placed Avery next to Rey, who subconsciously enveloped her in her arms. Poe lied back down and felt comfort at looking over to his two favorite girls, knowing they were going to get the chance to be a family.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter... Thank you guys so much for reading this, it means the world to me. I already have some ideas for the sequel but I will be writing another Damerey fanfic first. I really appreciate all the kind words about this work that holds a special place in my heart. I hope everyone enjoys the last chapter.

Avery woke up to an amazing aroma filling the house. She looked around to realize she was in Poe and Rey’s room. The last thing she remembered from last night was watching the thunderstorm with Poe, then feeling him rock her to sleep. Avery looked over at the clock and saw they had let her sleep in but now she couldn’t stand lying in bed one more minute without finding out what smelled so good.

She walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Avery found Kes and Poe over the stove making whatever was the culprit of the aroma, and Rey sitting at the table watching contently. She walked behind Rey and surprised her by throwing her arms around her neck.

“Oh my force Avery! You scared me!” Rey laughed.

“Sorry momma, what smells so good?” Avery asked as she sat down next to Rey.

“Poe and Kes are making their world famous French toast, it’s apparently a family recipe.” Rey explained.

“And it’s a secret, but your mom keeps trying to sneak a peek!” Poe mocked.

“Hey, I’m a part of this family now, doesn’t it make sense that I would know the family recipe, so I can pass it down to Avery and our future children?”

Poe thought about it for a minute but shook his head, “Uh, well, whatever, never mind.”

Avery laughed and began peeling a piece of pink fruit that was sitting in the basket in front of her. Everything from Kes’s garden had been so delicious; she couldn’t wait to try this new gem.

“So, where are we going today dad?” Avery wondered.

“I thought we could take a hike around the hills of Yavin, and I want to show you the force tree Master Luke gave my mother.”

“What’s a force tree?”

“You’ll see,” Poe winked.

“How did you sleep honey, one minute it’s just Poe and I, then the next I wake up and find you in between us.” Rey asked.

Avery blushed and sank farther into her chair.

Thankfully, as always, Poe saved her from having to explain, “Oh, I was actually worried about the ceiling in her room flooding from all the rain, so I went and got her to bring her into our room.” Poe gave her a smile and she felt the tension leave her body.

He walked over to the table with his dad and placed a plate of food in front of each of them. Avery took one bite and practically melted where she sat from the incredible taste.

“Good?” Poe questioned.

“So good.” Avery said as she shoveled more in her mouth.

After breakfast, Avery got dressed and began her walk outside with Poe and Rey. They walked into Kes’s backyard towards the tree line. Poe stopped in front of a beautiful looking tree with long lush branches and green on every leaf.

“This is the force tree Luke gave to my mom long ago. I used to sit under it when I had a bad day or when my mom passed away just to think. I always found solace under it, even though I’m not a force user like Rey.”

Avery could see what Poe meant, since they had walked up to it, she found a strange sense of calm by standing near it.

“It’s beautiful Poe.” Avery uttered.

Rey held her hand as they began to walk through the forest towards the hills. Yavin was truly a sight for sore eyes, everywhere Avery looked she found something new to awe at. They walked for quite a while until Avery began to hear the sound of rushing water. She looked up expectantly at Poe, who just gave her a toothy grin and a laugh.

Avery ran ahead of them and stumbled upon what looked like a paradise. The lush woods opened up to a clearing with a large chasm of water and a waterfall feeding into it.

She felt herself become giddy with happiness and jumped around waiting for Poe and Rey to catch up to her.

“Oh my gosh, you guys! Look, a waterfall! Poe can we go swimming, please? You taught me how, I think I could even swim underwater without your help! Oh Poe we have to!”

Avery couldn’t even finish one thought without another racing into her brain. She watched as Poe and Rey laughed at her mile a minute speech.

“Of course we will sweetheart, this is why Rey and I brought you out here. This is my favorite place on Yavin and I wanted to share it with you.” Poe said as he went over to the sandy beach entry part and set down their bags.

Poe began to strip off his shirt and go over to the water’s edge to test out the temperature. After sticking his feet in, Poe jumped off the edge and dove into the deep chasm. He popped up a few feet from the entry.

“Wow, feels great Avery, come on, hop in.”

Avery removed her shirt and shorts without much of a second thought and followed Poe in.

“Where does it get deep?” Avery hesitated.

Poe waded towards her, sensing her trepidation, and held his arms out. Avery smiled and leapt into his arms, splashing his face with water. They swam around together for a few minutes before they heard a shriek from the beach entry.

“Oh! It’s freezing!” Yelled Rey as she decided to just suck it up and take the plunge. She swam over to Poe and Avery who were deciding the best way to get to the top of the waterfall. Rey noticed where they were looking and decided to shut down this idea before it spiraled out of control.

“Uh uh, no way are you two climbing to the top of that thing and jumping off. I didn’t come all the way here to have you two crack your heads open doing something stupid.” Rey exclaimed.

“Gosh mom we weren’t thinking about THAT, how dumb do you think we are?” Avery smirked as she caught Poe winking at her. She loved the small moments her and Poe bonded over. It felt like they shared the same thoughts, enjoyed the same activities, and had the same sense of humor. Sometimes Avery felt as though she could forget that she wasn’t actually Poe and Rey’s daughter. Avery enjoyed those moments.

“Oh I don’t think you’re dumb, Poe on the other hand…”

With that, Poe grabbed Rey and dunked her in the water, playfully. Rey resurfaced to splash Poe in the face, drenching him with water.

“Well Avery, since Rey won’t let us climb the waterfall, what do you say we walk under it?” Poe suggested.

Avery gave him a wide eyed look and held onto Poe’s neck as he dragged them over to where they could climb the rocks that led underneath the waterfall. The three of them climbed up and walked behind it. Avery couldn’t have ever imagined she would be experiencing something this cool. Poe and Rey each took one of her hands and led her underneath the rushing water. Avery felt overjoyed and filled with happiness as the water fell over her head and onto her body. She heard Poe and Rey laughing and hollering, then Poe lifting her and throwing her back into the water below.

For the first time by herself, Avery swam from the bottom and surfaced. She remembered what Poe had taught her, and flipped onto her back to float on top of the chasm. Poe and Rey both jumped in and swam over to her, beaming with pride.

“Daddy did you see that? I swam all by myself and then floated on my back!” Avery yelled.

“I saw honey! I’m so proud of you.” And Poe really was proud of her. He also felt his heart melt a little every time Avery called him dad, or Rey, mom. He hadn’t expected Avery to warm up to them so much or enough to think of them as her parents. He loved the way she looked at him like he was her hero, or how she looked to Rey for guidance and comfort. He wouldn’t forget these little moments, not in a million lifetimes.

They swam back over to the beach entry and got out, sitting in the sand as Rey dug through their bags for towels she had brought with. She wrapped one around Avery first who was shivering a little from the cold and rubbed her arms up and down while holding her to her chest. After sitting for a little while and allowing the sun to dry them off a little bit, they began their trek home. It was official that Avery had fallen in love with Yavin, she never wanted to leave.

About an hour later, they returned to Poe’s home. Avery ran into her room to grab a pair of sweatpants and Poe’s shirt to throw on, sitting in wet underclothes had given her a chill. She walked into the living room where Poe and Rey were cuddling together on the couch. Avery could see Kes in the kitchen cooking an amazing smelling dinner.

Rey stretched her arms out and brought Avery into the group cuddle, which was warm and toasty. She sat on Rey’s lap, curled onto her chest, with her feet splayed across Poe’s legs. Rey felt Avery shiver and began rubbing soft circles on her back. She had almost fallen asleep when Kes shouted that dinner was ready. They walked towards the table and Avery noticed beef stew in her dinner bowl.

“How did you know this was my favorite meal?”

“A little birdie told me.” Kes winked as he looked towards Poe.

Avery sat down and began to fill her belly with the most amazing tasting stew she had ever had. It warmed her soul and took the chill out of her body. The talk around the table was stories about Poe’s childhood and the missions Kes and Shara went on before Poe was even born. He told hilarious stories of a young Luke Skywalker and the battles they fought alongside him.

Avery felt her eyes begin to get heavy after the long day and they all decided to call it a night. Poe scooped her up into his arms and walked towards their room.

“Goodnight princess, sleep tight!” Kes yelled down the hallway.

“Night grandpa,” Avery muttered sleepily.

Poe and Rey brought Avery into their bedroom and settled her into their bed. She was practically asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Poe and Rey got ready for bed and settled on either side of Avery. Instinctually, Avery curled herself against Rey who wrapped her arms around her. Poe rubbed her back and hummed a soothing tune as she felt herself beginning to drift off to sleep. They each pressed a kiss to her cheek and let her fall into a peaceful sleep. She knew as long as they were by her side, they wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. If she woke from a nightmare, they would be there to comfort her. If she got sick or hurt, they would nurse her back to health. Avery had spent so many years alone praying for her parents to take her away from Jakku. Her prayers had been answered.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction so I apologize if it isn't very well written. I'm not an English major and don't profess to be a great writer. I just love Star Wars and love Poe and Rey so I figured I would write this. Please leave any suggestions below on what I can work on for the future or any directions you wish the story to go. I will try to post often but at the very least once a week. Thanks for reading!


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